A new book claims executives used digital enhancements to thin Raven-Symone’s body during the production of That’s So Raven.
The 38-year-old former Disney Channel star rose to fame as Raven Baxter on the early 2000s sitcom, after first landing the role at age 15 and staying on the show for four years until its end in 2007.
When her weight fluctuated in her later teens, co-producer and writer Dava Savel claimed show bosses “handled it in a really bad way,” which comes just days after the actress revealed her father had died.
In his new book, “Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire,” Sevel said, “It drove Disney Channel crazy.”
‘And they handled it in a very bad way. But it was never to her face,” Sevel added in the book.
A new book claims executives used digital enhancements to make Raven-Symone’s body thinner during the production of That’s So Raven
The 38-year-old former Disney Channel star rose to fame as Raven Baxter on the early 2000s sitcom, after first landing the role at age 15 and staying on the show for four years until its end in 2007.
Sources in the book claim that one incident occurred in the season two episode “That’s So Not Raven,” where another model was chosen for a runway show over Raven due to her slimmer frame.
In the episode, the character Raven tried a series of diets before realizing that she is perfect just the way she is.
She then sent a message of body positivity as she walked down the catwalk at the end… although those final scenes were reportedly edited to make her look thinner.
However, the book’s author, Ashley Spencer, writes that “several people involved with the episode” claimed that a Disney Channel executive told the visual effects team to make Raven thinner in the final scenes.
Producer Michael Feldman said: ‘It was a shame. I don’t know how they can look at themselves and do that.’
‘What she wanted to write a story about was literally done to her. It’s still shocking to me that they were so tone deaf,” he added.
Adam Bonnett, Disney Channel’s former head of original programming, emphasized that while it wasn’t something he “would have asked for,” he remembers the same technique being used later in the series.
Recalling a school dance episode, he added, “Some things went into making Raven[‘s attire] look more flattering in certain scenes.”
Sources in the book claim that one incident occurred in the season two episode “That’s So Not Raven,” where another model was chosen for a runway show over Raven due to her slimmer frame.
In the episode, the character Raven tried a series of diets before realizing that she is perfect just the way she is
She then sent a message of body positivity as she walked the runway at the end… although those final scenes were reportedly edited to make her look thinner.
She would return as Raven in Raven’s Home, a spin-off that spanned six seasons from 2017 to 2023.
The actress opened up on her podcast that she had “two breast reductions and lipo before I turned 18.”
‘My father strongly suggested that I should have my breasts reduced. He said, ‘So you don’t feel bad, is there anything you want?'” she said.
“I thought, ‘Yes, if I get liposomes, will people stop calling me fat?'” she admitted on the podcast last year.