Raven-Symoné latest View saviour?
A surefire way to get hired as a permanent co-host on The View? Just create so many controversies during your stint as guest-host that ABC really doesn’t have a choice.
Hey, it worked for Raven-Symoné! The network announced Wednesday that the 29-year-old actress will officially join the show after nearly three dozen guest appearances. During that time, she’s managed to rack up a wealth of headlines with her polarizing opinions about racial and social issues.
More drama means more ratings — and The View really needs a win. The daytime chatfest has been in a near-permanent state of turmoil over the last year, with viewership declining after founder and den mother Barbara Walters retired in May 2014.
A couple months later, co-hosts Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd got the axe. Producers tried to bring back the reliably anger-inducing Rosie O’Donnell in the fall, but she left quickly, citing health issues, amid reports of behind-the-scenes problems.
A former Cosby Show kid and teen star of the Disney sitcom That’s So Raven, Symoné also broadens the age ranges on the show, which was originally supposed to feature a wide range of demographics. She’s now the token “millennial” alongside moderator Whoopi Goldberg, 59; actress Rosie Perez, 50; and former George W. Bush communications strategist Nicolle Wallace, 43.
And now, Symoné will deploy her devil’s advocate skills and general lack of a filter to try to make even more news. One of her biggest controversies so far: Defending Univision’s Rodner Figueroa, who was fired after he said Michelle Obama looked like part of the Planet of the Apes cast.
“Was he saying it racist-like? Because he said that he voted for her later,” Symoné said. “And I don’t think he was saying it racist.”
“That’s like saying, ‘I’m not a racist but I have black friends,’” Perez fumed as the conversation continued.
“Don’t fire me for this right now, but some people look like animals,” Symoné added. “Is that rude? I look like a bird. So can I be mad if somebody calls me Toucan Sam?”
On another day, Symoné spoke out against a proposal to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, arguing that Rosa Parks would be more relevant. Naturally, that remark drew a lot of criticism.
Symoné can cause a social media storm even when she doesn’t appear on the show: During an interview with Oprah Winfrey — in which she confirmed she’s in a relationship with model Az-Marie Livingston — she said she didn’t want to be labelled “gay” or “African-American.”
“I don’t want to be labelled ‘gay.’ I want to be labelled ‘a human who loves humans,’” she said. “I’m tired of being labelled — I’m an American. I’m not an African-American. I’m an American.”