Slick and subtle? Tom Holland “liked” an Instagram post claiming “short men have more sex” after he was trolled for his height amid his romance with girlfriend Zendaya.
The original post by @ladbible featured a film still from the 1988 movie Twins starring actors Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who have a noticeable height difference.
“According to the Journal of Sexual Medicine, shorter men are more sexually active than taller men,” the Instagram caption read, which was posted on Thursday, December 23. “A study of 531 heterosexual men found ‘coital frequency was higher among men with a height of less than 175cm’ – which is just under 5’9.”
Tom is 5’ 8”, according to IMDb, whereas Zendaya is 5’10” tall. Tom, 25, and Zendaya, 25, have encountered online trolling regarding their differentiating heights.
The Spider-Man costars recently commented about their difference in stature in a Sirius XM Town Hall panel on December 10. The Marvel Cinematic Universe actor playfully joked about the height “thing” between them: “Maybe like an inch or two at best,” Tom said. “It’s not like, people say like, ‘How do you guys kiss? It must have been so difficult.’”
The Euphoria actress then weighed in, calling the online trolling a “stupid assumption” that her being taller affects their onscreen kissing expertise.
“I honestly never thought of [our height difference] as a thing because my parents were that way,” she said. “My mom is taller than my dad. My mom’s taller than everyone.”
Not only that, but Tom also recalled the audition process behind the first Spider-Man film and how several other actresses were taller than he was.
“I remember doing the Spider-Man screen tests,” the Cherry actor recalled. “Every girl that we tested for both roles was taller than me. And I wonder whether that was a decision [director Jon Watts] had made … To be fair, I am quite short. So, maybe that was a decision Jon Watts made and something he was aware of to break the stereotype. I think it’s great.”
The pair have become one of Hollywood’s “It” couples this year, even though they first sparked dating rumors back in 2016. They reignited speculation when photos of the two kissing in a car surfaced online in July, seemingly going public with their romance. Since then, Tom and Zendaya avoided commenting about their relationship status.
However, the Devil All the Time actor addressed the topic in an interview with GQ that was published on November 17, mentioning the duo felt “robbed of our privacy.”
“I’ve always been really adamant to keep my private life private because I share so much of my life with the world anyway,” the Avengers actor admitted. “One of the downsides of our fame is that privacy isn’t really in our control anymore and a moment that you think is between two people that love each other very much is now a moment that is shared with the entire world.”