Tom Holland, the 27-year-old actor known for his portrayal of Spider-Man in Marvel's newest franchise, has found himself at the centre of online buzz once again. However, this time, it wasn't due to any Hollywood gossip, news about partner Zendaya, or superhero movie teasers.
Fans were taken aback when Holland seemingly posted a cryptic hint on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), about partnership with cryptocurrency platform Binance on April 16. The now-deleted post urged followers to register for early access to a new digital currency called $SPIDER coin, supposedly linked to a Spider-Verse project.
Known for his limited social media presence, the Marvel actor's post thus created confusion. Users felt it unlikely that Holland would promote cryptocurrency, leading to speculations that his account was hacked.
Holland's account bio was also altered to display a link related to the alleged partnership.
Further, there was also another post with the selfie of an unidentified person, thought to possibly be the hacker. The post included a caption referencing a scene from the Sam Raimi-directed early 2000s Spider-Man movie starring Tobey Maguire.
The crypto-post and photo-posts are now deleted.
The incident sparked a flurry of posts from bewildered fans. While some expressed relief that Holland hadn't genuinely endorsed cryptocurrency, others seized the opportunity to poke fun at the bizarre turn of events. There was also banter about why the hacker didn't exploit the opportunity to create fake Spider-Man 4 teasers.
Meanwhile, Holland has also been in the news for not being vocal enough about the racist attacks against his Romeo and Juliet co-star Francesca Amewudah-Rivers. Netizens have asked him to return to social media and say something in support.
Both were announced as cast of a new rendition of 'Romeo and Juliet' in the West End, scheduled to premiere in London. Production team, The Jamie Lloyd Company has denounced the severe reactions as "deplorable racial abuse" aimed at one of their cast members, adding that "this must stop."
