'You Can't Afford This': Zendaya Says She Was Racially Profiled While Shopping

Zendaya was trying to buy some gift cards at a grocery store when the clerk allegedly decided she didn't have enough money to afford them.

For real. According to the singer and actress, the store clerk took one look at her and decided she was poor. Cool!

Zendaya, who has a black father and a white mother, was shopping at Vons, a grocery store. She said her wallet was loose and her card fell on the scanner. When that happened, the clerk apparently dismissed Zendaya and tried to start scanning the next customer.

Zendaya discussed the experience with a friend on Snapchat right after it happened.

Zendaya said,

Now, I am trying to buy a lot of gift cards. There are some certain limits and some things, which is understandable… so I'll take the less amount, whatever. But the lady that was helping us… I don't think she was a huge fan of our skin tone.

According to Zendaya, the clerk went so far as to throw her wallet out of the way.

Zendaya said,

I can't make this up! This is what we deal with! She literally [threw my wallet] and she was like, 'You can't afford this'… It was $400! Long story short, there is so much progress to be done in our world.

The 20-year-old celebrity has had to deal with a large amount of racial profiling in her life and career.

Last year, after she wore dreads on the Oscars red carpet, Giuliana Rancic said her hair made it look like she smelled like “patchouli oil [or] maybe weed.”

Zendaya responded gracefully with a note about the context of her hair and racist comments.

Last month, it was announced that Zendaya will be playing Mary Jane Watson in the new reboot of “Spider-Man,” taking over a role that was played by white actresses in past movies.

Of course, racist trolls came after her as soon as the announcement was made.

Like Zendaya said, there's still a lot of progress we have to make.

Citations: Refinery29, BET