Zendaya has five siblings: Katianna, Annabella, Kaylee, Austin, and Julien. She also has several nieces and nephews.
Zendaya thinks highly of her three older sisters, Katianna, Annabella, and Kaylee, as well as her two older brothers, Austin and Julien.
The Euphoria star grew up in Oakland, California, with her parents, Claire Stoermer and Kazembe Ajamu Coleman. Zendaya is Claire and Kazembe’s only child together, but Kazembe had Zendaya’s five older siblings from a previous relationship. The Challengers star is also an aunt to her siblings’ children.
Despite the age gap, the Coleman kids share a strong bond. Like their little sister, Katianna, Annabella, Kaylee, Austin, and Julien prefer to keep their lives private. However, Zendaya deeply loves her siblings’ children and often publicly talks about her nieces and nephews.
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At the premiere of Challengers in London, Zendaya revealed that she looked to her own family for inspiration for her role. “I have many little nieces and nephews. They are like my borrowed children,” she told PEOPLE. Being an aunt has its perks, she added. “I get to have fun and then give them back to their parents,” she joked.
Here’s everything about Zendaya’s five siblings: Katianna, Annabella, Kaylee, Austin, and Julien.
Zendaya Is The Youngest Of Five Siblings
Zendaya is the youngest of the Coleman family. She has three older sisters, Katianna, Annabella, and Kaylee, and two older brothers, Austin and Julien.
Their Dad Is Zendaya’s Manager
Kazembe had Katianna, Annabella, Kaylee, Austin, and Julien from a previous marriage. He shares Zendaya with his ex-wife CKazembe, aaire. A teacher-turned-maazembe has managed Zendaya’s career for several years. With her older siblings raising their own families, Zendaya joked in 2016 that potential suitors had to get her dad’s approval first. “My dad is going to vet any guy that even looks at me,” she said. “They better go through Dad first!”
Zendaya Looks To Her Older Sister For Inspiration
In a 2015 interview with TIME, Zendaya praised her father for his strength and her mom for being a “hero.” However, she noted that her older sister had the biggest impact on her. “I look up to my big sister and realize the influence she’s had on me,” she told the outlet. “Having such a big, grounded family, I realize how important that is.”
Zendaya Has A Close Relationship With Her Nieces And Nephews
Although her siblings keep a low profile, Zendaya openly discusses her bond with her nieces and nephews. She and her niece Ezenia, “Zink,” are very close. In a 2014 Teen Vogue video, they played a game of “Besties Word Association” while getting matching manicures.
Talking about her “squad” in a Complex interview, Zendaya shared, “The closest person to me is my niece, who’s 20. She lives in L.A. with my sister, her two daughters, and her husband. So I escape to their house all the time. I call her about anything, and we go to dinner for random stuff. We chill.”
Zendaya also took her two younger nephews as her dates to the Spider-Man: Homecoming premiere in 2017, and one of her nieces accompanied her to the 2017 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.
Katianna, who goes by “Kizzi,” is a mom of three. Zendaya often babysat her nieces during her Disney days. In March 2017, Zendaya treated Kizzi and her nieces to a birthday trip to Universal Studios. “Thank you @UniStudios for giving my little niece the best Harry Potter birthday ever!” she wrote on Instagram.
Zendaya is very protective of her siblings’ children.
Zendaya aims to be a role model for her nieces and nephews when dealing with bullies and social media. “I think about my little nieces and nephews first,” she told Complex in 2015. “One day, they’re going to have Twitter and Instagram. I’ll show them how to handle it.”
