Zendaya’s Iranian Earring Controversy Explained

Before my big chop a few summers ago, for more than 20 years, my signature style was a slicked-back ponytail or bun, usually worn with a middle part and always adorned with a pair of big earrings.

Some people thought the look was overly simplistic or “boring.” But I love it when a woman’s face is on full display because her hair is pulled back or she’s sporting a short ‘do à la old school Halle Berry. Finished with some fly jewelry? To me, that’s not blah—it’s bold, classic, and sexy.

So, suffice to say, I was gagged when I saw recent photos of Zendaya at a London photocall for The Odyssey rocking a pair of gorgeous gold medallion earrings, which I can only describe as an upgraded version of a pair I purchased for 10 bucks from an African street vendor on 14th Street nearly 20 years ago.

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A bona fide fashionista, Zendaya always nails her red carpet looks, which vary as vastly as her on-screen performances. Sometimes she embodies the edgy appeal of her drug-addicted Euphoria character Rue Bennett. Then, she’ll switch it up and give us the girl-next-door style of Spider-Man‘s Michelle “MJ” Jones-Watson.

In Christopher Nolan’s recently released adaptation of the Homer epic The Odyssey, the 29-year-old actress plays Athena, the daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom and war. Zendaya’s character and the film’s Greek setting surely influenced her ensemble for the London photocall because she was definitely giving Cleopatra vibes. During the event, she wore a custom off-white floor-length halter gown with a plunging back and delicate embroidered trim by Jacquemus.

Maybe it’s my natural inclination to see things through an Afrocentric lens, but for me, the matching off-white head scarf she wore over her hair paired with the statement earrings made the look much more reminiscent of the Afro-Brazilian women who wear all white to honor Yemanjá, the goddess of the sea, motherhood, and fertility as part of traditional African religions like Candomblé and Umbanda.

For Zendaya’s longtime stylist and image architect, Law Roach, the ensemble exemplified “method dressing,” an innovative approach to elevate red carpet fashion by creating moments inspired by his clients’ film roles. Still, it was those gag-worthy earrings that garnered the most attention, although not only because of their exquisite beauty.

It’s the “hugely problematic” backstory behind the jewelry that has sparked outrage and, consequently, landed America’s Sweetheart on the public’s precarious “bad side.” For the Disney Kid turned two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner, this is unfamiliar territory because throughout Zendaya’s career she’s done an excellent job of steering clear of controversy.

Jewelry dealer Barron London described the earrings, which feature ancient Iranian sun motifs, as “a pair of Ziwiye gold medallion plaques, circa first millennium BC Iran.” Because of the active U.S.-Iran conflict, the The Drama actress is now facing backlash from archaeologists, historians, and, of course, social media users.

Made from 3000-year-old Iranian gold discs, Macquarie University associate professor of history and archaeology Peter Edwell said the earrings were sourced by a private London dealer from an “undisclosed origin,” which, let’s be real, is just a euphemistic way of saying they were stolen.

“It’s believed the items Zendaya wore came from quite a problematic hoard that was discovered in Ziwiye in Iran in the late 1940s,” he said. “It wasn’t excavated. It was plundered and then dispersed out to private and public collections.”

Edwell went on to explain that the deliberately obtuse language used to describe the item’s origin “generally indicates the artifact has, at some point, been plundered illegally.” Referring to the situation as “obviously a huge problem,” the associate professor tied Zendaya’s fashion flub to the larger issue of “artifact smuggling,” which “is run by criminal gangs and organized crime syndicates—a sophisticated, multi-level, international practice.”

London-based Islamic history and art expert Zirrar Ali called Zendaya’s decision to wear the earrings “distasteful,” given the current conflict between America and Iran, which has reportedly resulted in more than 3,000 deaths and tens of thousands of injuries, most of them civilians.

The online backlash was even more brutal, with one X user writing, “Wearing looted ancient artifacst [stet] from the very country that your country is bombing is disgusting,” while someone else wrote, “Zendaya wearing stolen ancient artifacts from a country and region that’s being bombed, where women and girls are being murdered and disabled by the gov’t and military of her country, at a film premiere is vile and tasteless. Zendaya, Law, and the thief who made these are gross.”

Another person wrote, “Either she and her team don’t do their research or she’s willing to overlook just about anything so she can continue to be everyone’s fashion favourite.”

For me, this isn’t just about Zendaya wearing controversial earrings. It sparks a deeper conversation about fashion, cultural heritage, celebrity influence, and who gets to wear history as a luxury accessory or momentary costume. To quote the wise words of Spider-Man‘s Uncle Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and Zendaya’s name and presence do carry weight in both the fashion and entertainment worlds.

In fact, before she landed her breakout role in the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up in 2010, the 2018 CFDA Fashion Icon Award winner started her career as a model for Macy’s, Mervyn’s, and Old Navy. And even though she has no formal training or education in fashion history, Zendaya has earned an honorary degree as a “student of fashion” for her reputation for studying the discipline combined with her affinity for pulling peculiar pieces from vintage archives.

For more than 10 years, she’s partnered with Roach to repeatedly reinvent herself using all things related to style, from her hairstyle to the color of polish on her toenails, and she does all this with very deliberate intention. Zendaya’s objective is to make a statement through her carefully curated fashion choices.

Every look the starlet wears becomes a global conversation. For example, she explained on X that the Afro wig she unapologetically rocked at the 2017 InStyle Awards was inspired by her “stunning aunties” and “a hint of Angela Davis.”

The starlet stole the show when she slayed in an infinity-inch-long buss down wig and barely-there Cher-inspired vintage Bob Mackie gown at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, where she presented the music legend with the illustrious honor.

“It’s impossible to measure the influence that Cher has had and continues to have on every one of us,” she said on stage, briefly pausing to point at her ensemble, adding, “As you can see, her impact spans generations. And no matter when you were born, you have heard, seen, or experienced Cher’s work.”

Now, this is what I call a masterclass in “method dressing.”

Zendaya is certainly not the first celebrity to find herself in the line of fire for making fashion choices considered to be miseducated, or sometimes just downright ignorant and insensitive.

Anyone remember Madonna’s Ray of Light era? In 1998, the “Material Girl” turned new mom was slammed for incorporating an Indian-inspired aesthetic, which included wearing traditional saris, henna tattoos, and the bindi, a red dot applied between the eyebrows. Worn by Hindu and Jain women, the bindi holds deep spiritual, cultural, and social significance as it represents intuition and intellect or “third eye chakra,” according to the Hindu American Foundation.

And don’t think that Black girls are exempt from the faux pas because we are not. There are plenty of examples of us coming under fire for appropriating, exoticizing, and exploiting sacred cultural artifacts for fashion, sometimes from within the Black diaspora.

For years, Black Is King director Beyoncé has been called out for sourcing African hairstyles, jewelry, attire, and dances from an “undisclosed origin.” Similarly, rapper Nicki Minaj was accused of Orientalism during her 2018 “Chun-Li” era. However, some argued that her heavy use of East Asian imagery and language was a shout-out to the character of the same name from the Street Fighter video game.

Another example, more in line with Zendaya, is Lizzo’s 2022 public relations nightmare, during which the classically trained flutist found herself to be public enemy No. 1 after performing at a concert in Washington, D.C. The multihyphanate artist thought she made history as the first and only person to play a 200-year-old flute previously owned by former President James Madison and loaned to her by the Library of Congress.

However, according to a 2001 NPR report, at least one other person played the instrument before her. What’s worse, Lizzo caught flak from some Native commentators who questioned if the sacred Indigenous crystal flute should have been used in public at all.

I am an avid advocate of respecting other people’s cultures and equally adamant about protecting my own. I see nothing wrong with gatekeeping culturally sensitive rituals, customs, traditions, or relics. In fact, I actually think it’s necessary for the preservation of history. I also recognize that there will always be some cross-contamination and inadvertent absorption between us all. However, when someone is constantly at the center of controversy tied to the appropriation or exploitation of other people’s heritages, the problem might not be unavoidable osmosis, but rather perpetual plundering, i.e., culture vulturing.

In the case of Zendaya’s ancient Iranian earrings controversy, given her track record and unless she and/or Law received a paper trail detailing their origin, which I highly doubt, I don’t believe she intended to be disrespectful. But as the kids say now, “Google is free.” So, my advice to her and her team would be to more thoroughly research the archival and vintage items she chooses to wear, because not everything that glitters is gold.

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