The Zendaya Hat Theory Is Supposed to Go Over Your Head

Last year, Tom Holland shared on the On the Menu podcast that he sometimes searches Zendaya’s name on Google, just to “look through the news” and make sure “she’s good.” If he’s had the chance to do a digital check-up on his fiancée recently (especially after her appearance at the Met Gala on May 5), he might be feeling a little alarmed. Confusing, sinister videos about “Zendaya hat theory” have been trending online for a week straight. In certain corners of TikTok, this meme has transformed the actress into as much of a horror icon as The Babadook, with some commenters even claiming that she is directly connected to the latest incarnation of the 2014 film’s titular character. What exactly is going on, and will it ever end? Here’s what to know.

What is Zendaya hat theory?

There is no single definition. It’s a parody of internet conspiracy-theory videos and copypastas. The main thing to know is that it vaguely suggests that there’s a scary, deeper meaning to hats that Zendaya has worn. Zendaya hat theorists pretend that their nonsensical or nonexistent “evidence” makes perfect sense, purposely confusing people who want to be in on the joke.

How did Zendaya hat theory start?

It’s a surprisingly long story. In 2014, Zendaya wore a massive black hat to the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood party. The internet was amused by the size of the hat, joking at the time that she was hiding something underneath. A photo of Zendaya at the event with the caption “mhm mhm let me not forget my big hat” later also became a popular meme format. Then, in 2020, an edited clip of a 2015 Zendaya red-carpet interview went viral. The footage was manipulated to make it look like Zendaya’s smile glitched in an unsettling way after being asked what her favorite Beyoncé song is.

On May 1, TikTok user @thesnakesbloxx combined those two viral moments in a video that paired Zendaya’s “glitching” smile with mostly-blurry photos of her 2014 hat. Ethel Cain’s “Perverts” served as the enigmatic background music. People treated the TikTok like a conspiracy-theory video about Zendaya and her hat, leaving comments about the “Zendaya theory” or the “mysterious case of Zendaya,” calling it a “case that doesn’t sit well with me,” and questioning what secrets were hidden underneath her brim. That same day, @thesnakesbloxx posted a clip of a 2011 YouTube video where Zendaya said, “Don’t forget to smile” — but added another Ethel Cain song to make her message feel mysterious or concerning. On May 3, the TikToker leaned into this confusingly-creepy bit by posting an “explanation” video that mentioned “Zendaya theory” and a hat “incident” without offering any clear explanations. It also referenced Tom Holland several times and included a “stranger abduction report” that lists Zendaya’s hair color as “hat.” “What do you think this all means?” a robotic narrator asked. “We definitely know but just want to see if you guys can guess.” Other TikTok users rose to the occasion, putting together their own videos about Zendaya and her hat.

Ahead of the Met Gala on May 5, @thesnakesbloxx speculated about whether the hat would make a return. When Zendaya stepped out at the event in a big white hat, @thesnakesbloxx and other prominent Zendaya theorists declared that this only confirmed all their unspecified suspicions. @thesnakesbloxx created a yin-and-yang graphic for a video that also suggested that Zendaya had not taken her past self’s advice/warning, given that because she was not smiling in some of the carpet photos. All told, theorists suddenly had a lot more material to unpack.

So it’s not just one account powering this trend anymore?

@thesnakesbloxx still does appear to consider itself an authority — it recently posted a video denying, “from the source itself,” that Zendaya hat theory is about Holland being inside Zendaya’s hat — but yes, a significant amount of other accounts eventually began posting “evidence” in comments and viral videos of their own. Thanks to the power of collective imagination, Zendaya hat theory lore has expanded to include the character Zennighta and arguments based on math (e.g. “tom=3 letters, hat= 3 letters, 3+3=6, 6 letters + 1 hat = 7, zendaya = …7 letters”) and spelling (e.g. “Zendaya spelled backwards is Babadook”). Zendaya hat theory TikToks run the gamut from joint Jeremy Strong edits to content approaching the realm of analog horror.

And ‘Zendaya hat theory’ is now haunting people in real life?

Yes. People are seeing her humongous hats everywhere …

Should Zendaya ever wear a hat again?

Sure! Just as long as she’s at peace with the knowledge that the internet is definitely not going to be normal about it.

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