Boston news channel mocked for failing to recognize Zendaya and her mother while filming street segment

A local news station in Boston didn’t realize they had accidentally filmed Zendaya and her mother walking in the street during a live segment.

The Challengers star is currently in Massachusetts filming her upcoming movie, The Drama, alongside Robert Pattison. The news station, Boston’s WCVB Channel 5, was doing a segment on the city’s holiday activities when it showed B-roll of people walking around the city’s popular shopping district on Newbury Street — including the Euphoria actor and her mother, Claire Stoermer.

The clip, which aired on Sunday (December 1), was later re-posted on TikTok by user @chlomance. “WCVB Channel 5 shooting B-roll and not clocking they got Zendaya,” they wrote in text over the video.

The TikTok was viewed more than 500,000 times, as many people turned to the comments section to express how shocked they were that Zendaya randomly ended up on television.

“Honestly this is kind of how I’d like to see celebrities being found. Casually haha,” one comment read.

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“Zendaya accidentally being on local news is hilarious,” another commenter said about the incident.

“Damn she can’t have any peace… bc she even accidentally gets filmed,” a third commenter joked.

Even staff at WCVB Channel 5 chimed in, as reporter Matt Reed commented on the clip: “Thanks for letting us know!”

News anchor Brianna Borghi also commented, writing: “And this is why we love our @WCVB Channel 5 Boston viewers!!!!”

Despite the slip-up, the news station did correct their mistake. They replayed the clip during Monday’s (December 2) broadcast, this time zooming in on the family who appeared starstruck after noticing Zendaya walk by, according to People.

Zendaya has previously admitted that she prefers to be seen as a “person” instead of a celebrity. During a Q&A session with her Dune: Part Two co-stars — Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler, as well as director Denis Villeneuve — in September, the actor opened up about how she deals with her rising fame and attention.

When asked by moderator Erik Davis if they could relate to the film’s theme of false prophets, based on their own experiences with fame and fans, Zendaya said: “I feel like, often, I am not cut out for that part of it. 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.”

She added: “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.”

Zendaya said that she wasn’t sure if she could “fully relate” to the question, but added: “That’s what’s terrifying to me.”

“I would like to be a person and for people to see me as that first,” she said. “I don’t necessarily know if I want or can handle all of that or want [that] — [for] 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.”