Vons have apologised to Zendaya after she claimed she was refused service because of her "skin tone".
Zendaya
The 20-year-old singer-and-actress hit out at the supermarket chain on Snapchat earlier this week and accused the sales clerk of suggesting she "couldn't afford" to make the gift card purchases she wanted, and suggested she had been treated differently because of her race.
Now the company have said sorry to the 'Shake It Up' star, but insisted there was no discrimination involved in the incident.
Vons said in a statement: "At Vons, we strive to treat each and every customer with the utmost respect. There is a policy that limits gift card purchases using a credit card.
"Zendaya was able to purchase gift cards up to our limit, and we apologise for any inconvenience or misunderstanding.
"We respect Zendaya's voice in the community and similarly are committed to diversity and inclusion. Moreover, we understand that race is a sensitive issue in America and view this experience as a reminder that every interaction is an opportunity to treat each customer as we ourselves would like to be treated."
In her Snapchat videos, Zendaya objected to the way the sales clerk had treated her in the store.
She said: "So we just got out of this Vons. Now I am trying to buy a lot of gift cards. There are certain limits or whatever so you can only by so much, but the lady that was helping us ... I don't think she was a fan of our skin tone. She then threw my wallet. I can't make this up! This is what we deal with! She literally threw my wallet and she was like, 'You can't afford this.' It was $400! Long story short, there is so much progress to be done in our world."
The 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' star then corrected herself in a later video, saying that the store clerk didn't throw her wallet, but actually tossed it toward her.
She said: "You know what it's all love! You know, may she go on to have a wonderful life. Yo, shout out the manager for coming and helping - I got my gift cards!"
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