Keke Palmer looks back on a tweet comparing her success to Zendaya

• Keke Palmer slammed a viral tweet comparing her success to Zendaya’s.
• The tweet stated that the careers of the two former child stars had been different due to colorism.
• Palmer fired back saying she was an “unmatched talent”.

Keke Palmer has hit back at a fan who compared the ‘Nope’ star’s success to that of Zendaya.

Saturday, a fan of the two stars tweeted a short thread on how she felt Palmer failed to achieve “mainstream popularity” like Zendaya because of colorism, a preference for lighter skin colors within the same race.

The fan pointed out that both actors were former child stars, with Palmer leading her own Nickelodeon show, “True Jackson, VP,” and Zendaya starring in two Disney Channel series.

“This is perhaps one of the clearest examples of how colorism plays out in Hollywood,” the fan wrote.

After the tweet went viral, Palmer responded by saying it was “colorism” to compare her to anyone.

“A good example of colorism is believing that I can be compared to anyone,” Palmer tweeted yesterday. “I’m the youngest talk show host ever. The first black woman to star on her own show on Nickelodeon, and the youngest and first black Cinderella on Broadway. I’m a talent beyond compare. Baby, THIS , it’s Keke Palmer.”

—Keke Palmer (@KekePalmer) July 24, 2022

In a later tweet, she continued, “I’ve been a leading woman since I was 11. I have over 100 credits and currently starring in an original screenplay which is the #1 box office movie # NOPE. I’ve had a blessed career so far, couldn’t ask for more but God continues to amaze me.”

Zendaya has been candid about colorism in Hollywood and how she benefits from it. In 2018, the “Euphoria” star told a Beautycon festival in New York that she tries to use her privilege “as a light-skinned black woman” to show a different beauty in the African-American community.

“I’m Hollywood, I guess you could say, an acceptable version of a black girl and that has to change,” she told a panel. “We are far too beautiful and too interesting for me to be the only representation of that.”

Palmer’s latest film, “Nope,” directed by Jordan Peele, topped the U.S. box office this weekend with $44 million in ticket sales.

“No” is in theaters now.