Topics: Celebrity, Disney, TV And Film
Raven-Symoné has spoken out about reports of scenes from That’s So Raven were ‘modified’ to try and make her look thinner, following claims made in a new book about Disney’s ‘tween’ stars.
In Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire - which was released last month – author and journalist Ashley Spencer explores what happened behind the scenes of the hit channel, covering everything from ‘private feuds and on-set disasters, to fanfare that swept the nation and the realities of child stardom’.
This includes how That’s So Raven bosses allegedly managed Raven-Symoné’s fluctuating weight, which was reportedly handled ‘shamefully’.
"Disney Channel was going crazy about it,” writer and producer Dava Savel said in the book.
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“And they handled it in really bad ways. But it was never to her face.”
Spencer said that ‘multiple people involved in the episode’ shared with her that a network exec instructed the show’s visual effects team to manipulate footage to make Raven-Symoné appear thinner.
Producer Michael Feldman told the author: "It was shameful. 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.”
Raven-Symoné, 38, has now responded to the claims herself, having spoken to E! about comments made in the book.
During an interview with the outlet to promote her new game show Scrabble, the star was asked about how the new book said she had been ‘CGId thinner’, and whether or not this was true.
Raven-Symoné replied: "I love that you said CGI. This was before CGI. This was when they would take the film and stretch it. Um, yeah, there were conversations I do remember that, uh, yeah, would make me look thinner."
As for whether or not she’d ever let any of her own children follow the same career path that she did, she replied firmly: "I would never let my child go into the entertainment industry before the age of 17.
"Enjoy the anonymity first, and take some classes, and then we can get into it."
Tyla has reached out to Disney for comment.
