Raven-Symoné attempted to clarify her controversial comments about the racial identity of her That’s So Raven character, Raven Baxter, during a conversation with her former co-star Kyle Massey.
“Did you understand what I was trying to say?” Raven asked Massey, who played her on-screen younger brother, Cory Baxter.
“No, n***a, nobody did,” Massey responded.
The exchange appears in an episode of Tea Time with Raven and Miranda, featuring Raven-Symoné and her wife, Miranda Pearman-Maday. Pearman-Maday also poked fun at the controversy by dressing as “Green Raven” for Halloween.
The backlash began after an April episode of the podcast featuring actor and comedian Kalen Allen. After Allen described the character as “so f***ing Black,” Raven asked, “Was she Black? Why did she feel Black to you?”
She then suggested that viewers imagine the family as green instead. Fans criticized the comments, arguing that the show’s portrayal of a Black family was central to its cultural significance.
During the latest podcast episode, Massey explained that he interpreted Allen’s remarks as a compliment to Raven and the show’s cultural impact.
“He was giving your props,” Massey said, explaining that Allen was recognizing how Raven’s portrayal of a Black character empowered him as a Black man.
Raven acknowledged that viewers could interpret her comments as dismissing the character’s Black identity, but maintained that was not her intention.
“I stand on the pillar that I was the first Black female to have a show with her name in the title,” she said, adding that she never claimed to be “the first green female” to lead a show.
She explained that she wanted to highlight how That’s So Raven connected with audiences from different backgrounds.
“You had people from every country watching a Black family, but they saw themselves in that family, which means we were universal,” she said.
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