On the eve of New York City mayoral Election Day, 18-year-old Ella Devi earned viral fame in connection with her support for Zohran Mamdani. The self-proclaimed “socialist socialite” particularly gained attention over a selfie with the iconic, multi-faceted actor Wallace Shawn. Given her South Asian name, many quickly presumed that she was of Indian origin. However, Devi played her part well in shutting the unprovoked chatter down and revealing her true roots.

Mamdani supporter Ella Devi’s ‘Young Sheldon’ gaffe sparks generational divide

The veteran actor was spotted alongside Devi as they canvassed for the Indian-origin mayoral hopeful in the East Village over the weekend. Although she posted the X snap on Sunday, netizens went bonkers as they caught note of it these past two days. Given her age as an 18-year-old, Ella merely associated Shawn with the show Young Sheldon, which is exactly what got her in trouble with the masses.

While young TV enthusiasts may recall him as Dr John Sturgis from Young Sheldon, others familiar with his charismatic filmography may also remember him as Vizzini in The Princess Bride, the voice of Rex in the Toy Story franchise and Mr Hall in Clueless, among other memorable credits.

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“Canvassing for @ZohranKMamdani in the east village today and the actor who plays dr strugis in young sheldon is in my canvassing group!!” she exclaimed on X, while sharing the camera click.

‘Hot Girl for Zohran’ fiasco explained

The development went viral beyond control especially after the New York Post picked it up as a story on Monday, November 3 (US time). The article entitled, “‘Hot Girl for Zohran’ gets mercilessly trolled for failing to recognize legendary actor: ‘Inconceivable!’” further attracted eyeballs, with many dragging the teen Mamdani supporter for solely identifying Wallace Shawn as the “Young Sheldon guy.”

Shortly after The Post’s article surfaced online and Devi’s social media activity gained a brand-new audience, she addressed the issue in the same X thread. In a follow-up comment, she added, “‘put some respect on wallace shawn’ i am only 18 and have only seen him in young sheldon i’m sorry!!!” In yet another comment, she then levelled the playing field by hitting out against her critics, saying, “old people! if you have time to yell at me to go watch the princess bride you have time to canvass or phone bank.”

Devi even went on to plug the New York Post article in a separate tweet, calling out the new nickname the US news outlet had given her. “Favorite part about this article: i have never referred to myself as a hot girl for zohran, the new york post just decided to bestow that honor on me,” she said.

Dubbed ‘Hot Girl for Mamdani,’ Ella Devi clarifies she’s not an Indian American

As more haters came her way, one commented, “Three facts: you’re NOT hot, you’re a moron and you don’t represent hard working Indian Americans who believe in merit and opportunity!”

It prompted Devi to take matters into her own hands, as she wrote back: “1/3 of this is true! i don’t represent indian americans. i’m not indian american i’m sri lankan american.”

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According to her official website, elladevi.com, the Zohran Mamdani supporter was born and raised in New York City. She is a Parsons photography student and has been tied to the high fashion profession since the age of 13. Now emerging as a fashion influencer, she has already worked with brands like Valentino and Polene. Detailing her roots, her website profile states, “She is equal parts Sri Lankan (bad) and Serbian (worse).”

Her latest selfie Wallace Shawn is not the first time she’s received hate during the Mamdani canvassing effort. Speaking to Washington Examiner, she opened up about having received “a large amount of rape and death threats.”

However, instead of those alarming comments pulling her down, she’s transformed them into a new kind of fuel. “And so I told myself that for each threat I got, I would sign up for another shift,” she added.

And yet, that’s not to say that she hasn’t felt threatened by those targeting her. Confessing that she fear of her encounters was tied to the Islamophobia Mamdani had faced during his campaign trail, she said, “Some people in New York City are very fearful of having a Muslim be the mayor of New York City. And they react to him with a lot of Islamophobia, with racism.”


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