Following Warner Bros.’ release of the final trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic ‘Dune: Part Three’—starring Timothée Chalamet as Emperor Paul Atreides and Zendaya as Chani—a viral rumor has taken over social media.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: As anticipation builds for the conclusion of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi trilogy, Warner Bros. dropped the final trailer for ‘Dune: Part Three’, highlighting a tense showdown between Timothée Chalamet‘s Emperor Paul Atreides and Zendaya’s Chani.
Amid the massive online buzz surrounding the upcoming movie, a viral image allegedly showing Zendaya and Chalamet locking lips on a red carpet has taken the internet by storm. The post quickly flooded feeds with memes about Zendaya’s longtime partner, Tom Holland, leaving fans wondering if the co-stars had actually shared a romantic moment at a premiere.
Claim: Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya shared a red-carpet kiss for ‘Dune: Part Three’
Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya shared a kiss at the DUNE part 3 red carpet something Zendaya described as “scene scripted kiss” https://t.co/gDRmQ4KfPi
— teji🥀 (@t_al0n) October 27, 2026
A celebrity gossip account on X (formerly Twitter) run by user @t_al0n posted photos purportedly showing Chalamet and Zendaya kissing at a promotional event for the final installment of the franchise.
The tweet claimed that Zendaya dismissed the moment as a “scene scripted kiss,” accompanying the text with two pictures. In the photos, Zendaya is seen wearing a high-slit beige gown paired with a striking green necklace, while Chalamet sports a sparkling black suit. One image captures the pair appearing to kiss, while the other shows them posing closely together.
The post tapped into existing online rumors regarding their off-screen dynamic versus their complex on-screen relationship as Chani and Paul Atreides.
Within hours, the post racked up over 4.2 million views and hundreds of comments. Many users posted comedic reactions regarding how Tom Holland might respond, showcasing the internet’s ongoing fascination with the actors’ chemistry and personal lives.
The viral post surfaced on October 27, 2026—coincidentally the exact day Warner Bros. unveiled the final trailer for the movie. ‘Dune: Part Three’ is slated to premiere in theaters and IMAX on December 18, 2026.
Fact Check: The viral post stems from a satire account
The rumor is entirely false. The viral post originated from an account that explicitly labels itself as a “satirical celebrity gossip account” in its bio.
While the account shared the fabricated claim on October 27, 2026, ‘Dune: Part Three’ has not yet held a red-carpet premiere, and no official promotional events of that nature took place around that time.
Instead, the circulating images are actually several years old, taken at the Venice Film Festival premiere of the very first ‘Dune’ film on September 3, 2021. At that event, Zendaya wore her famous custom beige Balmain high-slit gown accessorized with a bold green Bulgari emerald necklace, while Chalamet wore a shimmering black Haider Ackermann ensemble. While the co-stars posed affectionately and closely for the cameras, they did not kiss.
Furthermore, there is zero documentation of the actors ever sharing a real-life kiss at a red carpet event, nor did Zendaya ever refer to such an incident as a “scene-scripted kiss.”
Archival footage and photographs from their joint appearances across the press tours for ‘Dune’ and ‘Dune: Part Two’ show no evidence of a romantic exchange. The viral hoax simply repurposed old photographs from 2021 and paired them with a satirical caption to manufacture a believable piece of fake news.
Ultimately, the viral images do not capture Zendaya and Chalamet kissing at a ‘Dune: Part Three’ event, but rather rely on vintage red-carpet photos and internet satire to mislead viewers.