In a recent episode of the popular podcast “The Best Podcast Ever With Raven and Miranda,” Raven-Symoné, revealed a deeply personal and often painful journey through her teenage years. The actress, now 37, spoke openly about the weight-shaming she endured during her rise to fame and the plastic surgeries she underwent at a young age to cope with the harsh scrutiny she faced.
During the fifth episode of the podcast, co-hosted by Symoné and her wife Miranda Pearman-Maday, the actress disclosed that she had undergone two breast reduction surgeries and liposuction before she even turned 18. The decision to pursue these procedures was influenced by both the intense body shaming she experienced while in the spotlight and the encouragement of her father, Christopher Pearman.
Symoné recounted, “There was paperwork involved. My dad suggested strongly that I should get my breasts reduced. He was like, ‘So you don’t feel bad, is there anything that you want?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, if I get lipo, will people stop calling me fat?’ So I got a two-fer. It was just a mess, just being that young and the pain of it all.”
However, the road to self-acceptance was far from smooth. Symoné shared that after her first breast reduction surgery, she suffered a seizure upon waking up. She vividly recalled the moment, saying, “I remember waking up and seeing everything… I started having this dry mouth and couldn’t breathe and went back under, and they were like ‘You have a seizure.'”
Despite her efforts to align her appearance with societal expectations, Symoné revealed that body shaming persisted even after the surgeries. She recounted that she continued to face hurtful comments on social media, highlighting the emotional toll of feeling judged and ridiculed.
Symoné’s courage in sharing her personal struggles extends beyond her own experiences. In a July interview with E! News, she voiced her concerns about the trend of using the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic for weight loss purposes. Drawing from her family’s history of diabetes, she emphasized the importance of respecting the intended use of medications and not trivializing their value for “glamazon purposes.”
“I have pre-diabetes and diabetes in my family. If I’m not careful with my intake of types of foods, I am more susceptible to getting diabetes,” Symoné emphasized. Her call to prioritize genuine medical needs over trends and fads resonated strongly.