The Truth About Zendaya's Parents

Zendaya: possibly the most buzzed-about one-word name in Hollywood right now. Between her start on the Disney Channel to her standout role as MJ in Marvel's newest iteration of the Spiderman franchise, the actor has had a meteoric rise from her humble beginnings. "Euphoria," the show for which Z got her Emmy win in 2020, is currently airing its second season and there is already talk that she may secure many more acting nominations. But, where did Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman get this creative prowess from?

Well, Zendaya herself chalks much of her success up to her extraordinarily supportive parents. In an interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" from 2016, Zendaya said, "I'm really lucky to have the parents that I have. They just have always instilled in me those core values that I think I have carried with me through everything." So, who exactly are the people who raised Zendaya to be the woman she is today?

The Oakland, California native was born to parents Claire Stoermer and Kazembe Ajamu Coleman. And if you're wondering where Zendaya got her height from, according to Allure, Stoermer is 6'4"! Both her mother and her father were school teachers, but Coleman left his profession in order to move to Los Angeles with Zendaya, so she could be on the Disney Channel show "Shake It Up" when she was just 13 years old, per Glamour.

Stoermer stayed in Oakland in order to continue teaching and working as a house manager at the California Shakespeare Theatre. She was even honored as a "local hero" by Bank of America for her work in advancing the arts for the youth of northern California. "She taught in underprivileged communities for 20 years," Zendaya also told Glamour. "There are students who will tell you, 'Without Ms. Stoermer, I don't know where I'd be.'"

While Stoermer worked, Coleman acted as Zendaya's manager at the beginning of her career and would oftentimes accompany her on red carpets. In an Instagram post, Coleman revealed that "Back in the days of ambiguity people thought I was Zendaya's bodyguard!" While Zendaya's career thrived far past her Disney days, with the fame came a strain on Stoermer and Coleman's marriage.

Claire Stoermer and Kazembe Coleman actually didn't tie the knot until Zendaya was 12 years old. And for reasons unknown to the public, the couple ended up divorcing in 2016 after being married for eight years, per TMZ. But the split seemed to have been amicable. "My parents ain't been together for a long time, y'all didn't know cause we private+they still homies" Zendaya tweeted at the time.

Stoermer now designs jewelry and runs the online shop, Kizzmet Jewelry, which Zendaya has been seeing wearing out and about. Although Coleman is no longer his daughter's manager, he is a CEO, performance coach, and music producer, according to his Instagram. Known for being a bit overprotective, Coleman would always go to the ends of the Earth to protect his daughter; he was even a chaperone on Zendaya's date with Odell Beckham Jr. at a Grammy party back in 2016, per TMZ. We wonder what he thinks about Zendaya's relationship with "Spiderman" co-star Tom Holland!