Zendaya at The Odyssey event in London
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Zendaya is getting dragged for 3,000-year-old The Odyssey earrings, and it’s a fair point

An archeologist said she finds it 'gross'

Daisy Phillipson
14th July 2026, 15:18
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Zendaya is facing a rare wave of criticism for a pair of 3,000-year-old artefact earrings she wore to a London event for The Odyssey, and it’s opened up a wider debate. 

Christopher Nolan’s historical epic finally lands in cinemas this Friday, with Zendaya among the star studded cast including her husband Tom Holland. 

As an adaptation of Homer’s epic, the film has sparked plenty of debate about its historical accuracy, but this week the conversation has turned to what’s been going down off camera. 

Notably, last week, Zendaya wore a pair of earrings featuring ancient gold discs dating back between 2,000 and 3,000 years, which have been reset into a modern design with 18-carat yellow gold and diamonds.

Originally designed by London jeweller Glenn Spiro as part of his Materials of the Old World collection, the earrings now remain part of Barron London’s private line. 

Now, it should be noted that Zendaya has been receiving praise for her look, with archeologist Annelise Baer celebrating the artefact jewelry, saying, “I’m obsessed.”

But fellow archeology TikToker Dr. Z has since responded to this take saying she thinks “this sh*t is gross,” referring to celebrities wearing what’s believed to be stolen relics. 

Archeologist explains issue with Zendaya earrings

In her latest video, Dr. Z explained why she’s not a fan, first saying that she doesn’t advocate for viewers to go and start “trolling” Annelise Baer.

@dr.archaeology

I’m an archaeologist and I think black market antiquities are super uncool. Hoping Zendaya has a chat with her stylist in the future! Hollering at @Annelise Baer | Archaeologist to do a follow up video about Zendaya’s Odyssey movie premiere earrings made by Glenn Spiro. High chance a lot of his Old World jewelry collection’s source artifacts are not above suspicion. My Phoenician-esque (not straight replicas but inspired) are from Etsy! Highly recommend small jewelers doing legit work. #archaeology #ancienthistory #zendaya #theodyssey #artifacts

♬ original sound – Dr. Archaeology

She then notes that as a scholar, she  wants the ancient jewelry inspo trend using real artifacts to go “the other way,” before describing Zendaya’s earrings. 

“We know nothing else about their provenance, meaning their journey from their homeland, which is probably Iran,” she continues. 

Dr. Z points out that the earrings belong to Glenn Spiro’s collection of jewellery incorporating genuine artefacts sourced from the Middle East, North Africa and West Africa. 

“They were acquired by his son by means undisclosed,” she adds, saying it leaves a “bad taste in mouth.” 

“Glenn literally says in interviews that these pieces are a dialogue with glorious treasure hunting and the exoticism of far lands and the past,” the archeologist continues. 

“That ship don’t launch for me, dog. These artifacts are likely looted from Iran, and they are gracing the ears of an American actress from a country that just bombed Iran.”

She argues that wearing ancient artefacts as luxury accessories risks turning cultural heritage into “a commodity stolen for the elite”, and questions why replicas weren’t used instead. 

In her view, using the real relics is instead about “class signalling” and “fetishising the past.”

“Also, I think the irony of wearing historical jewelry to a movie that is an absolute train wreck of anachronistic language, armour, gender roles, [and] pants is a funny choice,” she adds.  

Margot Robbie and Kim Kardashian faced similar scrutiny

The issue has opened up a wider debate about celebrities wearing historical pieces. Earlier this year, Margot Robbie faced similar scrutiny after wearing Elizabeth Taylor’s famed Taj Mahal necklace to the Wuthering Heights premiere. 

Critics argued that it had been looted by British colonialists and rebranded as a western luxury item. 

Then there was the infamous Kim Kardashian controversy when she wore Marilyn Monroe’s iconic 1962 Jean Louis ‘Happy Birthday, Mr. President’ gown to the 2022 Met Gala, with historians saying it was fragile and should never have been worn in public. 

In this latest case, Zendaya is facing rare criticism online. “I know people get real feisty when you criticise their faves but Zendaya having Law Roach take a private jet to Europe just to pick up a dress for her to wear the same evening AND THEN wearing stolen ancient Iranian artifacts as earrings… it leaves a bad taste in my mouth,” wrote one.

Responding to Dr. Z’s video, another said, “This is seriously disappointing. I’d like to say, I hope she didn’t know, but I feel like Zendaya is smart enough to know to research the items she wears.”

A third added, “I thought I was gonna disagree but this is literally no different than those museums who steal ancient artifacts from (black and brown) countries to put them in museums.”

Regardless of where you stand on the Zendaya situation, Dr. Z’s analysis highlights a genuine dilemma about the commodification of cultural heritage. Without a clear provenance, it’s hard to defend a company profiting from ancient artefacts that may have been taken from their countries of origin.

As for Zendaya herself, some fans have defended The Odyssey star, with one writing, “But she didn’t know where they were from for sure.”

Another commented, “Fellow anthropologist here. Some people just like antiques. It isn’t class signaling to spend money you’ve earned. As long as the items weren’t literally f**king stolen, who gives a sh*t.”

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Featured image credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock