Zendaya and Tom Holland chose not to attend this year’s Oscars or any of the night’s after-parties. The newly engaged couple was not seen at the Academy Awards despite Zendaya’s film Dune: Part Two having a Best Picture nomination. No reports or photos of them at any parties after the ceremony came out either.
Zendaya did not have any individual nominations last night. Her project Challengers was shut out. Her other big film, Dune: Part Two, ultimately lost Best Picture to Anora. Challengers’ exclusion was considered a snub.
Zendaya was seen filming Euphoria’s third season last week. While she didn’t go out, her Euphoria co-stars Sydney Sweeney and Hunter Schafer attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
Holland skipping also makes sense. Shortly before Zendaya revealed the couple’s engagement at the Golden Globes, Holland spoke to Men’s Health about why he almost never walks red carpets with his partner. He doesn’t want to overshadow her “because it’s not my moment, it’s her moment, and if we go together, it’s about us.”
That reasoning extends beyond Zendaya, too. Holland only goes to mandatory events because he doesn’t want to take attention away from the people being spotlighted.
In September, Zendaya spoke about handling fame. “I feel like, often, I am not cut out for [the fame] part of [my work],” she said during a Dune: Part Two talk. “I do love my job; I’m so grateful. I love doing the work, I love being on set, I do love moments like this—don’t get me wrong—but I am terrified of that part of it, often.”
Much like Holland, she isn’t the type of person who likes drawing attention to herself. “I was a shy kid, always have been, and so this part isn’t natural—that is a huge reason why fashion became important to me because it became like armor to pretend to go out and do the job,” she said. “I would like to be a person and for people to see me as that first. I don’t necessarily know if I want or can handle all [the fan attention] or want [that]—some people that’s part of it, they enjoy the power that comes from it, and I don’t know if that’s for me.”
