For most of us, we probably can’t even imagine a parent suggesting we have plastic surgery as a child, a literal child. But for Raven-Symone, that was her reality because of the industry she’s in.
E! News reports,
Though Raven-Symone quickly became an icon for teenage girls while appearing as Raven Baxter on the Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven, new claims about the hit series reveal that the show wasn’t always exactly what meets the eye.
As with most teens, 18-year-old Raven’s weight would fluctuate. However, “Disney Channel was going crazy about it,” co-producer and writer for the series Dava Savel said in the new book Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire. “And they handled it in really bad ways. But it was never to her face.”
One alleged occurrence, according to multiple sources in the book, happened on season two of the show in an episode titled “That’s So Not Raven,” in which another model is chosen over Raven for a runway show due to her thinner frame. In the episode, Raven first tries a variety of crash diets before deciding she’s perfect as-is and walking in the show at the end in a message of body positivity.
According to the new book, “multiple people involved in the episode” shared with author and journalist Ashley Spencer that a network executive instructed the show’s visual effects team to manipulate footage to make Raven appear thinner in the show’s final scenes.
“It was shameful,” producer Michael Feldman said of the alleged alterations. “I don’t know how they could look at themselves and do that. The very thing that she wanted to do a story about was literally done to her. It’s still a shocking thing to me that they were that tone-deaf.”
If you have a child in the entertainment industry you can literally be everywhere with them at all times but there are certain pressures you can’t really shield them from. And for Raven, her parent, her Dad, not only didn’t shield her from the pressure to have plastic surgery, he pressured her himself.
The Independent reports,
Raven-Symoné has revealed that she underwent several cosmetic surgeries as a teenager, after her father encouraged her to do so while she was receiving criticism about her weight.
The That’s So Raven star said she had two breast reductions and liposuction done before she turned 18 in 2004.
Speaking on the latest episode of her and her wife Miranda Pearman-Maday’s podcast, Symoné recalled: “There was paperwork involved. My dad suggested strongly that I should get my breasts reduced.
“He was like, ‘So you don’t feel bad, is there anything that you want?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, if I get lipo, will people stop calling me fat?’”
She continued : “So I got a twofer. It was just a mess, just being that young and the pain of it all.”
Symoné also disclosed that, after her first breast reduction surgery, she suffered a seizure.
“I remember waking up and seeing everything… and then I just started to have this dry mouth and couldn’t breathe and went back under,” she said of the experience.
The Cheetah Girls star said she does not remember much else because she was “disassociating” from reality, but admitted that not knowing what caused the seizure “freaks her out a bit”.
Raven got the reductions and she got the lipo, but then her weight was still an issue because after she lost weight, her new show wanted her to be bigger to play the stereotypical role of the big girl with a big heart.
Screen Rant reports, State of Georgia was a 2011 sitcom that showcased the multifaceted talents of Raven-Symoné, but she had problems on set regarding wearing a fat suit. Best known for her starring role in Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven, Raven-Symoné played Georgia, an aspiring actress with a larger-than-life personality, navigating the challenges and adventures of life in New York City.
After losing a significant amount of weight, the show’s producers wanted Raven-Symoné to appear as she had before her weight loss, leading to the decision that she wear a fat suit to embody Georgia. This decision did not sit well with Raven-Symoné, who felt it was a step backward, not just for her personally, but for the portrayal of women in media.
Fast forward to today and Raven Symone is at a healthy weight and has healthy eating habits.
Last year, Raven Symoné credited her wife with helping her “kick sugar”, which led to her losing 40 pounds.
She told The View: “With [her wife’s] help and guidance and love and fantastic cooking skills… she helped me kick sugar.
And kicking sugar was the key to her keeping her weight down.
Leave a comment and share what you think about Raven Symone being pressured by Disney and her own Dad to have plastic surgery twice before she even turned 18. Can you imagine how she felt as a child trying to process all that pressure from adults wanting her to go under the knife just so they can keep making money off of her?
