Key Takeaways
- Raven-Symoné clarified that she always considered the Baxter family Black, while calling That's So Raven a "universal show" that viewers across cultures could relate to.
- Speaking with former co-star Kyle Massey on Tea Time with Raven & Miranda, she explained, "You had people from every country watching a Black family, but they saw themselves in that family."
- Her clarification followed an earlier exchange with Kalen Allen, when she responded to his description of Raven Baxter as "Black as hell" by asking, "Was she Black? Why did she feel Black to you?"
Raven-Symoné has clarified her controversial remarks about whether the Baxter Family in That’s So Raven should be considered Black.
The former Disney Channel sitcom was discussed while co-star Kyle Massey, who played Cory Baxter, was a guest on the Thursday (October 29) episode of Tea Time with Raven & Miranda. When media personality Kalen Allen was a previous guest on Tea Time, he praised That’s So Raven character Raven Baxter for being "Black as hell," to which Raven-Symoné replied: "Was she Black? Why did she feel Black to you?"
The actor, however, avowed that she had considered the Baxter family to be Black throughout the show's four-season run in the 2000s.
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"Yes, I know that That’s So Raven was a Black family on Disney Channel doing things. I stand on the pillar that I was the first Black female to have a show with her name in the title. I've said that my entire life," Raven-Symoné said around the 27-minute mark of the video above.
"I know that we were Black, obviously…I fucking get it. Period. I get it," she continued, adding that it was a "universal show."
"You had people from every country watching a Black family, but they saw themselves in that family, which means we were universal," Raven-Symoné added. "There are some shows that I look at, I don't see myself in the character because the cultural aspect of it is so minuscule that it's not universal."
Raven-Symoné has made eyebrow-raising comments about race in the past, including her 2014 remark when she told Oprah Winfrey that she considers herself "American" instead of "African-American." The entertainer would later clarify her stance during a 2024 episode of podcast Unplanned.
