'The View' co-host apologized for remarks she made last week after her father wrote in an open letter, "She says some dumb s**t!"
After finding herself in hot water over comments many found to be racially insensitive, The View co-host Raven-Symone took to Facebook to address the controversy surrounding her remarks.
"My comments about discrimination have spun out of control," Raven wrote in a Facebook message on Sunday. "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 two million likes."
The 29-year-old actress is referring to a segment on The View in which the panel discussed a study that said Americans discriminate against people based on their names.
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The co-hosts watched and commented on a viral video of the most "ghetto"-sounding names, after which Raven said, "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."
Commenters on Twitter were quick to jump on Raven's comments, which many called racist and ignorant.
Even Raven's father, Christopher B. Pearman wrote an open letter on Facebook about his daughter's propensity for making controversial quips. "Children grow up and become influenced by many things, situations and people," he wrote. "I certainly don't agree with what she said....but she is damn near 30 years old. She's a grown a** woman making grown a** mistakes. We all have been guilty of this."
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"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," Pearman continued. "Even if sometimes..........she says some dumb S#%T!"
To My Dear Friends,There has been much talk today about my daughters comments on her show The View. People have been...
Posted by Christopher B. Pearman on Friday, October 9, 2015
In her own message defending herself and her comments, Raven stressed that she understands why people were upset at her remarks, but that some good can come from the discussion it initiated.
"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," Raven shared. "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. That's the truth and it sucks. But I should not be part of the problem, I should be part of the solution."
She apologized for the remarks, and also swore that the comments were made in jest and did not reflect her actual opinions on hiring practices.
"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."
My comments about discrimination have spun out of control. I'd like to begin by saying that I was not attacking a...
Posted by Raven-Symoné on Sunday, October 11, 2015
In March, Raven found herself at the center of another controversy when she defended former Univision host Rodner Figueroa, who said that First Lady Michelle Obama "looks like she's from the cast of Planet of the Apes."
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"Michelle, don't fire me for this right now, but some people do look like animals," Raven said during an episode of The View. "Is that rude? I look like a bird. So can I be mad at somebody that calls me Toucan Sam?"
Here's Raven opening up to Oprah Winfrey about the pressures of being a young celebrity in Hollywood, and how she tries to keep her name out of the tabloids.
