If you were on Twitter on Sunday night before and after the Fenty Bowl, you may have seen that Tom Holland was trending at one point. I was confused – and worried. Because Tom has been keeping it pretty undercover the last several months, taking a break from the spotlight, staying off social media (at least publicly) and generally just recuperating from several years of work and being a heatscore. 

 

Then I realised what I had forgotten. People were talking about Rihanna and “Umbrella” and that’s where Tom comes in because, of course, he performed “Umbrella” on Lip Sync Battle, against Zendaya, obviously, back in 2017. It was a major cultural moment for a certain generation, like maybe even the equivalent of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams kissing at the MTV VMAs for an older generation. This is not an exaggeration. Zendaya and Tom are the internet’s favourite couple, just like Ryan and Rachel were the 2000s favourite couple. 

And Zendaya herself seems to be aware of the power of that Lip Sync Battle experience because this is what she posted on stories after watching the Fenty Bowl. 

 

That screenshot of herself was taken from Lip Sync Battle during Tom’s performance. So it’s praise for RiRi but also a callback to one of their fandom’s most cherished memories. And also, for the shippers out there, confirmation that she and Tom are doing OK, they’re just living their lives away from our eyes right now. 

Although we did get a sighting yesterday of Z in Rome for a Bulgari commitment. She skipped the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards. She’s been almost as quiet as Tom the last couple of months. But the Screen Actors Guild Awards are coming up in a couple of weeks and she’s nominated. Will we see her there? 

 

In the meantime, if it’s been a minute since you last watched, over five years later and this still holds up.