Law Roach Says Zendaya's Oscar Dreadlocks Led to the Birth of The Crown Act: 'It Created a Global Conversation'

Mar. 15, 2025

Law Roach, Zendaya.Photo:Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; Steve Granitz/WireImage

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty; Steve Granitz/WireImage

Law Roachis “grateful” for his longtime client and close friendZendaya.

At the Nov. 23Teen VogueSummit, the stylist recalled Zendaya’s powerful choice towear dreadlocksto the 2015 Academy Awards, when she was 18 years old. At the time,Fashion Policeco-hostGiuliana Rancicdrew backlashfor a comment she made that night about the young star looking like “she smells like patchouli oil or weed.”

“That instance went on to actually change the way Black people’s hair was accepted in schools and the workplace,” he said during a panel discussion. “So although we did not set out to make this big statement, because of the events that happened, The Crown Act was actually birthed from that incident.”

Created in 2019,The Crown Act(which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair), ensures protections against discrimination based on race-based hairstyles such as braids, locs, twists and knots in the workplace and schools.

Zendaya at the 87th Annual Academy Awards, February 2015.Steve Granitz/WireImage

Steve Granitz/WireImage

Roach continued that while he and Zendaya “didn’t know that it would happen that way,” they are “grateful that it did because it really created a global conversation of what’s appropriate for Black people’s hair, especially Black women.”

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“There is a fine line between what is funny and disrespectful,” shewroteon Instagram.

“Someone said something about my hair atthe Oscarsthat left me in awe,” the Emmy winner added. “Not because I was relishing in rave outfit reviews, but because I was hit with ignorant slurs and pure disrespect.”

Zendaya and Law Roach at the 2024 Met Gala.Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty

Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty

She continued, “To say that an 18-year-old young woman with locs must smell of patchouli oil or ‘weed’ is not only a large stereotype but outrageously offensive. I don’t usually feel the need to respond to negative things but certain remarks cannot go unchecked.”

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In a 2021 interview withW Magazine, the then-24-year-old starreflected on her response to Rancic.

“That’s how change happens,” she shared. “And it made me think, ‘How could I always have a lasting impact on what people saw and associated with People of Color?'”

source: people.com