Losing a parent can bring up complicated emotions, and Raven-Symoné is getting candid about how her own father’s death impacted her. According to Shine My Crown, in an interview with Jason Lee on The Jason Lee Show, the That’s So Raven star said that she felt a sense of relief after her father died, as he was behind many of her childhood traumas, including when she underwent breast surgery and liposuction at just 15 years old.
Read on for what Raven said about her relationship with her father and her reflections on her viral comments about not identifying as African American.
Raven’s still in therapy processing the surgeries her father forced her into
In the March 30 episode of the Zeus talk show, which also included Raven’s wife, Miranda Pearman-Maday, Lee asked Raven about how she survived the darker moments of child stardom.
He asked, “You had a breast reduction and lipo at 15? That’s like, in my mind, psychologically and emotionally abusive.”
Raven agreed, and said it’s something she’s turned to therapy to process and heal from.
“I had multiple issues from that,” the Raven’s Home actor said. “I am in EMDR therapy right now, undoing, reworking and getting ready for what this book would say. I couldn’t until there were a few people that were no longer on this planet.”
Lee asked if she was talking about her brother Blaize Pearman, who died in November 2023, People reported.
She made it clear that that wasn’t the family member she was talking about.
“No, my father. He was a very interesting, narcissistic, abusive human. So his passing has been freeing and regressing for me,” she said.
The 39-year-old announced the death of her father, Christopher Pearman, on social media in October. She kept her statement brief, sharing a picture on Instagram of her when she was young, her mother and Pearman.
“My life has been long and abundant,” the Disney star wrote in the caption. “And the path I’m on started with a dream. Hope he is watching with a smile on his face… 🕊️#christopherbpearman.”
In December, during an episode of her podcast, Tea Time with Raven & Miranda, which she hosts with Pearman-Maday, Raven revealed that she had one of two breast reduction surgeries after being advised to by the adults in her life.
“I went from a triple D all the way down to a B,” she said in the episode. “Someone said I needed to do it in order to get a show.”
At the time, Raven added that her father “suggested strongly” that she have the procedure done.
Raven doubles down on not identifying as “African American”
While sitting down with Lee, Raven also discussed her viral comments about not being “African American.” She explained again why she identifies as American and not African American, and wondered why that’s considered anti-Black.
“I am not an African American,” she told Lee. “I’m an American. I am a Black American, I’m definitely Black, and yes, my ancestors came from Africa. How long does a bloodline have to live in one land before they are considered a pure species of that land?”
After arguing that other immigrant American groups are awarded an American identity, Raven argued that her racial identity should be considered similarly.
“There’s nothing wrong with being African American,” she added. “But a true African American is someone that is from Africa and moved here, either first generation or second generation, and has a tie to that country that I do not have.”
Raven said that her ties to the U.S. go back generations. She told Lee that Virginia’s first census that counted Black people by name included an ancestor of hers.
“I think there comes a point where, when you build a country, when you fight for freedom, when you pay taxes and generationally live in that country, you have the privilege to call yourself pure American,” she said.
