Zoe Kravitz hits back at trolls who mocked 'naked' dress
Zoe Kravitz has spoken out over trolling she experienced following last September's Met Gala.
The award-winning actor arrived on the red carpet in a traffic-stopping diamanté net dress. The gala's theme for 2021 was 'In America: A Lexicon of Fashion', and Kravitz wore a YSL halter chainmail dress made from rhinestones, held together by 'YSL' initials.
She wore it with a rhinestone thong and black high heels, and her micro-braided hair was swept up to show her drop diamond earrings.
But while fashion lovers were delighted by the daring look, with many media outlets adding her bold style to 'best dressed' lists, it seems some onlookers were not so complimentary.
Read more: Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz pose together in new pic from Met Gala afterparty
Now, the Big Little Lies and The Batman actor has explained how it felt to be mocked, and why she left Instagram a week after the gala.
At the time, she hit back at critics, saying: "“Being uncomfortable with the human body is colonization / brainwashing. It’s just a body. We all got em."
Kravitz certainly wasn't the only Met Gala attendee flashing flesh – the trend was strong on the 2021 red carpet, with Taraji P Henson, Teyana Taylor, Saweetie and Kendall Jenner all wearing revealing evening dresses.
But in an interview for the March issue of Elle Magazine, Kravitz admitted, "The fact that people don’t think what they say affects a celebrity because you’re not a person to them is crazy.
"I’m a human being. I want to f—king defend myself.”
She also deleted every relevant post from her Insta, including those of the 'naked dress' and their attached comments.
Watch: Most awkward moments from the Met Gala 2021
"The fact that I’m like, ‘Should I have not worn that?’ No, I do what I want to do, and I make what I want to make, and if I’m now starting to be afraid of what other people are going to say or think, I’m no longer doing my job as an artist," said Kravitz.
“I’m not experiencing the world and putting that into art. I’m walking on eggshells. F*** that. So, I needed to take a minute.”
She is now back on Instagram, with 6.6 million followers - after just four posts, including her Elle cover shoot.
The daughter of A-listers actress Lisa Bonet and singer Lenny Kravitz, Zoe has admitted that people assume she's had an easy path to stardom.
She told Elle, "(it's about) wanting to prove not only to the world, but to myself, that I deserve to take up space in the industry.
"I’m proud of where I come from. Now it’s nice to be in a space where I feel like, when people ask me about my parents, I’m not like, ‘Let’s not talk about that.’ I’m like, ‘They’re awesome. I’m grateful to be their child. And I also am my own human being.’”
Read more: Zoë Kravitz, 33, on bucking narrative she has to be 'a grown-up
In an interview last year, she opened up further on her attitudes to beauty and self-confidence.
"When I see someone who is comfortable in their own skin and knows who they are, I think that’s gorgeous," she said.
"I’ve seen so many people who on paper are ‘beautiful,’ and there’s just nothing behind the eyes—they’re totally insecure, and all of a sudden, the beauty doesn’t mean anything, and I don’t find them beautiful anymore. That beauty lasts about two seconds.”
Read more: Zoë Kravitz re-creates her mom's 'Rolling Stone' shoot: 'Life imitates art'
She added: “It definitely took me some bit of time as an adult and someone who was in the public eye to find myself.
"There’s a lot of pressure. Growing up, I’d go to events and think, Do I need to look like everyone else?”
However, at 33, she now says, “You know when a guy on the street tells you to smile?
"So lately, I’ve been doing one of two things. I’ve either been looking them in the face and saying, ‘Don’t f***ing tell me to smile,’ or I’m like, ‘My grandmother just died.’
“I watch them react, and they don’t even know what to say. The whole point is to remind them I’m a human being. I’m not here to look pretty for you.”
