Zendaya lends her support to boyfriend Tom Holland after he was urged to speak out in support of Romeo and Juliet co-star Frances Amewudah-Rivers amid a ‘barrage of deplorable racial abuse’

Zendaya has lent her support to her boyfriend Tom Holland amid his performance in a Romeo & Juliet play that has become embroiled in a racism controversy.

Tom, 27, will play Romeo in the upcoming West End production while Juliet will be portrayed by Francesca Amewudah-Rivers.

Social media was later flooded with a ‘barrage of deplorable racial abuse’ over the diverse casting, prompting the theatre company to release a statement condemning the abuse Francesca received.

Zendaya told Vogue that she ‘could not be more proud’ of Tom, adding: ‘I’m going to try to see as many shows as I possibly can.’ 

Speaking on both of their journeys to stardom, Zendaya said: ‘We were both very, very young, but my career was already kind of going, and his changed overnight. 

‘One day you’re a kid and you’re at the pub with your friends, and then the next day you’re Spider-Man. I definitely watched his life kind of change in front of him. But he handled it really beautifully.’ 

It comes after Bridgerton actress Arséma Adeoluwayemi Hamera has called on Tom Holland to speak out in support of his co-star Francesca. 

Taking to Instagram on Sunday, Arséma, who played young Lady Danbury in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, shared a plea from HBO actress Selina Jones urging Tom to speak up.

‘You lot need to put pressure pon @tomholland2023’s head top,’ the post read. ‘I need my guy to say something, ANYTHING, about the disgusting racial abuse being thrown at our angel Fran.’

The post urged people to encourage him to act in any way they could, and added: ‘Our power as a people and a community should never be underestimated. Avengers assemble.’

Several other people took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice their frustration at the lack of a statement from Tom. 

They wrote: ‘Seriously though, he should’ve said something days ago. We got newcomers like Melissa Barrera, Renee Rapp, Ramy Youssef and Avantika speaking up for Gaza and he can’t step in against blatant racism? Spider-man would never;’

‘It is incredibly embarrassing and indicting that a dark skinned black woman who has nothing to do with your production is urging you to defend your own co-star. an incredibly useless and spineless man;’

‘Like how do you jump on stage and look your co-star in the eye knowing you sat idly by as she endured archaic forms of incessant racism. This is what infuriates me about celebrities not using their power and privilege. absolutely pathetic;’

‘What I do know is that his Black costar is receiving extreme racism & death threats because of her Race. I’m sure that hurts more. And Asking Tom Holland to speak out against the racism his costar is facing from some of his OWN fans is ASKING him to do the BARE MINIMUM.’

However while some fans agreed with the sentiment, they also jumped to the Hollywood actor’s defence citing that he rarely uses social media. 

They said: ‘Are people forgetting that tom holland is hardly on social media;’

‘I’d agree in a different case but yall forget that tom holland said years ago that only logs into his social media for work reasons. he’s not on the internet so he definitely doesn’t know;’

‘I do agree with you but Tom has said many times that he’s not active on social media.’ 

The theatre company responsible for the Shakespeare production released a statement on Friday denouncing the shocking backlash as they vowed to ‘continue to support and protect everyone in our company.’ 

The Jamie Lloyd Company shared: ‘Following the announcement of our Romeo & Juliet cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company. This must stop.

‘We are working with a remarkable group of artists. We insist that they are free to create work without facing online harassment.

‘We will continue to support and protect everyone in our company at all costs. Any abuse will not be tolerated and will be reported.’

It continued: ‘Bullying and harassment have no place online, in our industry or in our wider communities.

‘Our rehearsal room is full of joy, compassion and kindness. We celebrate the extraordinary talent of our incredible collaborators. 

‘The Romeo & Juliet community will continue to rehearse with generosity and love, and focus on the creation of our production.’

The theatre company did not directly name who had received abuse. 

MailOnline contacted The Jamie Lloyd Company for comment at the time. 

The Romeo & Juliet cast was announced last month, with Tom and Bad Education’s Francesca announced in the titular roles.

They are joined by Freema Agyeman (Nurse), Michael Balogun (Friar), Tomiwa Edun (Capulet), Mia Jerome (Montague), Daniel Quinn-Toye (Paris), Ray Sesay (Tybalt), Nima Taleghani (Benvolio), Joshua-Alexander Williams (Mercutio), and Callum Heinrich and Kody Mortimer (Camera Operators).

The 12-week run goes from May 11 until August 3 at The Duke of York’s Theatre. 

Tickets for the production sold out two hours after going on sale in February. At this time Tom was the only cast member announced. 

Director Jamie Lloyd, 43, said of the casting: ‘Tom Holland is one of the greatest, most exciting young actors in the world. It is an honour to welcome him back to the West End.’

Tom made his stage debut as a child when he starred in Billy Elliot The Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London in 2008.

Romeo And Juliet will mark his first West End role as an adult.

The Shakespearean epic is a story that has been staged hundreds of times on the West End and The Crown actor Josh O’Connor and Irish star Jessie Buckley appeared in a version of the play, filmed for TV inside the National Theatre in 2021.

Other actors to have played Romeo on stage include Harry Potter star Alfred Enoch, The Lord Of The Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen, Game Of Thrones‘ Sean Bean and Bodyguard actor Richard Madden.