Zendaya’s glittering Hollywood persona has collided with explosive family drama after her half-sister, Latonja Coleman, launched a blistering attack accusing the Challengers star of neglect, branding her a “Karen,” and dismissing her relationship with fiancé Tom Holland as an “odd couple” in a bombshell interview with The U.S. Sun.
Latonja Coleman and Zendaya have the same father, Kazembe Ajamu Coleman, but they have different mothers.
Latonja, 51, revealed the sisters have met just twice in seven years, most recently at their grandmother’s funeral in January. She described their last interaction as icy: “When I tried to talk to her, she just gave me a one-arm hug. It felt like I was just a fan.” Latonja added that her grandchildren are unaware of their famous aunt, quipping, “Zendaya is very active with my other sister and brother’s kids, but my grandkids don’t even know her. They think she’s just from the Disney Channel.”
The half-sister also took aim at Zendaya’s relationship with Tom Holland, labeling them an “odd couple” and expressing fears she’ll be excluded from their upcoming wedding.
Latonja mentioned that she encountered Holland during Thanksgiving in 2018 and described the Spider-Man actor as “really, really cool.”
“He’s down to earth, and my family likes him. They just look like an odd couple because he’s so short, and she’s so tall. But other than that, I think he’s the one for her.”
Latonja asserts that she attempted to reach out to Zendaya after her cancer diagnosis, but certain unnamed family members shut her out. “I went through cancer and chemotherapy all by myself with no help, no support. I just want to know why Zendaya wasn’t there for me. They never told her ( had cancer), but I’m sure she found out later.”
She currently believes she is the ‘black sheep’ of the family because she is the product of her father’s first relationship – and holds him responsible for her inability to connect with Zendaya and for feeling allegedly ‘excluded’ by her other siblings.
Latonja is Kazembe’s eldest child from his high school sweetheart, Michelle Mackintosh. Zendaya, 28, is Kazembe’s daughter with his third wife, Claire Stoermer, whom he married in 2008.
Despite the blended family, Latonja alleges a stark divide. “We’ve never been close. She’s in her world, and I’m in mine.”
