Zendaya was honored with her own custom Barbie doll, and she is absolutely thrilled by the gesture.
“I’m honored because I didn’t decide what look this Barbie was gonna have,” she said, according to Entertainment Tonight. “Barbie actually took the initiative to make it something that was an important moment for me and I think a lot of people out in the world.”
The former Disney Channel star was referencing the look of the doll, which was patterned after the hair style that sparked a national conversation about racism in hair styles when she was criticized for wearing dreadlocks, which Giuliana Rancic said looked like she “smells like patchouli oil, or maybe weed.”
“The hair was obviously so important to me,” Zendaya explained. “They took their time, and they made it perfect.”
Zendaya went on to say that the new Barbie was a huge step, since she grew up as a mixed race girl never connecting with the dolls, because “they didn’t really have one that looked like me.”
“I think it’s definitely time to have a Barbie like this,” she added. “It’s opening doors for a lot of women, women of color, of all different backgrounds. I think that’s really, really exciting.”