All About Laughs
We are living in a world where you simply just can’t please everybody. Now a days, it seems as if anything and everything comes under scrutiny, a lot of which deserves zero negative energy. Raven-Symone has been known to draw criticism for some things she’s said in the past, but one of her recent decisions have seemingly drawn some ire from displeased fans.
Remember when Raven-Symone said this to E! News and had the world scratching their heads?
“I never said I wasn’t black, I said I wasn’t African American — to me that’s a difference. Thank you to Ancestry.com for sending me my DNA test … I am from every continent in Africa except for one and I’m also from every continent in Europe except for one.”
Of course you remember. But for those who do not, the Cosby Show actress was using the moment to clarify past comments she made concerning labels. Raven made it clear she did not want to be considered “African-American”, but just simply “American.”
She further attempted to explain her viewpoints. “We are a melting pot of beauty. We have to embrace the different cultures we have,” Raven continued. “And if you don’t, we’re still gonna have these problems that are blasting up everywhere. And call me a hippie, call me a free-thinker, call me someone that’s looking for a better life, but I wanna be in a better world.”
Her comments didn’t sit well with, well… anyone. It drew almost universal scrutiny as many are filled with the understanding that both Africa and Europe are already continents. And continents can’t have continents within them.
Raven-Symone really did say “I’m from every continent in Africa.”
— Hurt Vonnegut (@TrulyTafakari) March 27, 2015
Lawdhammercy, someone please collect your sistren.
When Raven Symonè said she’s from every continent in Africa and Europe pic.twitter.com/72zi8RZNAC
— burna boiz (@versupremacy) March 27, 2015
The hilarious criticism that came from that moment was indeed warranted. Just last month the former View host caught a bit of heat from a number of Nicki Minaj stans, aka “The Barbz”, for her comments in a joint YouTube video with her wife, Miranda Pearman-Maday. A fan assumed that the both of them “scream Nicki Minaj lyrics randomly and jam out to her music,” an assumption they absolutely deny.
“That is a bad assumption. Nicki Minaj is not something that we scream out,” Symone shared. She jokingly (or maybe not jokingly) reveals that they may scream out one another’s names before sharing that they listen to a variety of different types of noises and also enjoy Elton John. However, due to them being “creative thinkers”, she says, “sometimes when there is ratchet, abrasive music on, it tends to clutter our brains more.”
TOTALLY UNEXPECTED: Raven Symoné reveals she doesn’t listen to Nicki Minaj and refers to Nicki’s music as “rachet and abrasive” in a new Q&A on her YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/YVvYblBRhH
— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) May 3, 2021
The latest bit of information that she chose to reveal is the result of her 28-pound weight loss due to her diet and exercise regimen. While she didn’t share exactly what she is doing to drop the weight, she is undoubtedly excited as she continues on her journey.
“Just so you guys know, I am 28 lbs. down. I lost a s**t ton of weight,” said Raven-Symone in an Instagram Live video. Sitting next to her was her wife, adding words of cheer. “You’re incredible, honey,” Maday supportively said. “You’re doing so good.”
Raven proudly continues to boast of her accomplishment thus far. “Pounds down, pounds down. Check out the chin. You see that chin? If you all watch ‘Raven’s Home’ literally right now, and then come on this live and see this joint, I got a whole different face going on. It’s a whole pounds down journey.”
The couple shared that they will be documenting the weight loss journey on their YouTube channel. Raven also shared that they would be partaking in a fast as well. “Right now I’m doing a fast,” she said. “I’m doing a 48-hour fast so we’re on that journey now.”
Normally when a person chooses to lose weight it is met with plenty words of encouragement and the push to continue. Raven-Symone did get support from some of her 2.4 million followers, but there was quite the percentage that brought backlash her way, feeling “triggered” by her decision to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Some of the comments on her Instagram post showed angered fans sharing sentiments like, “Gonna have to unfollow for the weight loss plan… I am in eating disorder recovery, and it’s triggering and sad to watch people buy into diet culture. Hope you find sustainable living outside of this ‘pounds down’ mentality.”
Another wrote, “You always looked beautiful. But I can tell by how excited you are to announce that you lost nearly 30 pounds, that you didn’t already know that. Diet culture has you by the neck, and instead of accepting it, you should fight back. You’re quite literally starving yourself to lose weight and that is just so sad. You don’t need to resort to such extremities in order to fit society’s f——- up perception of beauty. Eat. Enjoy your life.”
The actress once slimmed down some years back and received a ton of media attention due to it. She shared with HuffPost that the attention surrounding her weight-loss then bothered her. “It was kind of irritating, because I didn’t really do it to get attention. I didn’t really do it on purpose,” she said. “It happened, and I don’t really like talking about it that much. I believe you should be comfortable in your skin no matter what you go through — emotionally or whatever — as long as you’re healthy. It was just a lot for me. I really didn’t like it.”
She continued, “We’re in a society based on beauty. We have fast-food commercials followed by a [weight-loss] commercial, so I can understand the fascination. The way we function in society — it doesn’t make sense sometimes because it’s all based on how you look and then how badly you should feel after you eat the food we just advertised. And then when someone in the public eye goes up or down, it’s like a major moment.”
