It seems like Raven-Symoné is backtracking on comments she made about not hiring people with “ghetto names.”
The View co-host caused uproar after making the following statement:
“Just to bring it back, can we take back ‘racist’ and say ‘discriminatory,’ because I think that’s a better word. And I am very discriminatory against words like the ones that they were saying in the video. I’m not about to hire you if your name is Watermelondrea. It’s just not going to happen. I’m not going to hire you.”
The comments were so ridiculous that her father, Christopher B. Pearman, took to Facebook to respond to his daughter’s comments:
To My Dear Friends,
There has been much talk today about my daughters comments on her show The View. People have been hitting me up all night questioning me about her remarks. Let me say this……I haven’t managed Ravens career in over 10 years. This woman is grown, has her own management team, has her own opinions, right or wrong, and is responsible for her own words and actions. A woman wrote to me tonight and said she couldn’t support my book because of the words of my daughter. What she fails to realize is that my book is about teaching your child to believe and achieve. Raven has achieved incredible success, and this cannot be denied!
Children grow up and become influenced by many things, situations and people. I certainly don’t agree with what she said….but she is damn near thirty years old. She’s a grown ass woman making grown ass mistakes. We all have been guilty of this.
I did my best as her father, mentor and career manager. I believe I did a Wonderful job. Aside from this inexcusable gaffe, her 29 years in the entertainment industry has been quite successful, for there have been only an Elite Few Child Stars to last this long and have little to no controversy. For this, I am Very Proud!
Raven is a really Beautiful, Sweethearted, Human Being.I should know. Her Mother and I Love her Very much and will always support her and have her back. Even if sometimes……….she says some dumb S#%T!
To see Raven and our families story go to:
Www.dream-so-big.com
Now, it appears that the talk show host is attempting to clean up her discriminatory remarks. The former child star posted an apology to her Facebook page late Sunday night.
My comments about discrimination have spun out of control.
I’d like to begin by saying that I was not attacking a specific race, but repeating a name that was said in a viral video which has received over 2 million likes.
I have been denied many jobs because of my skin color, body size, and age. Each time I was rejected, my self esteem was negatively effected, so i empathize with those who feel victimized by what I said. We would hope that when it comes to hiring, our names, physical appearance, sexual orientation, and age would never outweigh our qualifications, but often times, they do, thats the truth and it sucks. But I should not be part of the problem, I should be part of the solution.
As an equal opportunity employer, I have never discriminated against a name….even though I said I would, it’s not true. My comment was in poor taste. My lack of empathy towards name discrimination was uncalled for. I would also like to say that on Friday my account was hacked, those are not my words.
Hmmm….
We’re just going to sit this right here for your digestion.
