Claire Stoermer called out online trolls after reading harsh comments about herself on Instagram.
The mother of Zendaya addressed the criticism shortly after celebrating her daughter’s 30th birthday on September 1. Stoermer said the experience helped her understand why some people stepped away from social media for their mental health.
Zendaya’s mom Claire Stoermer addressed “terrible, horrible comments” attacking her following her daughter’s 30th birthday
Stoermer shared a screenshot of an Instagram post on September 3 and explained that she had come across negative comments about herself.
“This is a screenshot of an Instagram post that came up in my feed. I totally get why people have to give up Instagram for their mental health,” she wrote.
The Claire Stoermer trolling did not convince her to leave the platform, but she admitted that the criticism could have affected her differently in the past.
“If I was to go and read all the comments on this post about myself, I could feel really bad. There are some terrible, horrible comments, I did read some of them. And thank goodness I don’t take that sh*t personally.”
Stoermer said she believed she might have struggled more with those remarks when she was younger.
“Once upon a time I may have. And if I was a young person, I know I definitely would have. It’s sad and frustrating,” she wrote.
She then referenced The Four Agreements and encouraged people not to internalize online criticism.
The Claire Stoermer social media drama came as Zendaya herself had spent time away from social media. Earlier in 2026, the actress had already hinted that she planned to reduce her public presence after a busy stretch of work.
During a March interview with Fandango, Zendaya told fans that she intended to disappear for a while.
“I just hope you guys don’t get sick of me this year because I’ll tell you what—I’m disappearing for a little bit. I’m going to have to go into hiding for just a little bit.”
Stoermer did not connect her daughter’s Zendaya Instagram break directly to the comments aimed at her. Instead, she used her own experience with online criticism to explain why she understood the need for distance from social media.
