This one might get ugly, or maybe I’m overestimating how much people care. First, some background: Raven-Symone is famous for many things – the 23-year-old has been working pretty much non-stop from the age of four, when she began work on The Cosby Show. Her popularity grew from there into her teenage years and into young adulthood with roles in the Disney Channel’s mega-hits, The Cheetah Girls and That’s So Raven. That’s So Raven is still Disney’s highest rated and longest running show. She also produces some of her television project. And in addition to her acting and producing career, she’s has a solid music career.
Unfortunately, Raven-Symone is also famous for being the target of quite a bit criticism from bloggers and the mainstream media for her larger body. She’s even spoken out about the criticism she’s faced, calling her critics “haters” and her body “thick and fabulous.” In an interview this past January, Raven said: “People come up to me and have certain words for me, but you know what I do? I say, ‘I’m healthy, I exercise, I believe in myself, and I think I’m beautiful.’ You just have to learn how to transform the pressures into something that doesn’t soak into you on a personal level. You see it, you breathe past it, you don’t let it sink into your self-esteem.”
So will Raven defend herself against Debbie Allen’s recent comments? When Debbie was being interviewed about So You Think You Can Dance, Debbie expressed surprise that so many young people know who she is. Debbie pointed out that she’s been introduced to kids because she co-stars on That’s So Raven. When kids come up to Debbie, recognizing her and asking about Raven, Debbie says, “’Of course, I know that little heifer! I love that girl.”
Raven-Symone — who has received her share of criticism from online “haters” for her body — has found a new critic: Her Disney costar.
At a So You Think You Can Dance elimination taping Thursday in Los Angeles, Usmagazine.com caught up with That’s So Raven star Debbie Allen and asked her about the upcoming Fame movie, out Sept. 25. (Allen played Lydia Grant in the 1980s series.)
“It’s going to energize a whole new generation of young people who were not engaged in Fame the first time around,” Allen told Us. “It’s so funny we were talking about things coming full circle.”
She then told Us she is surprised that kids these days even know who she is. Then, she said, it dawns on her that she stars with tween sensation Symone in That’s So Raven.
Said Allen, “I was wondering how they knew me and then they say, ‘Do you know Raven?’ I’m like, ‘Of course, I know that little heifer! I love that girl.'”
In March Symone, 23, spoke with Seventeen at a self esteem workshop. She said she was “thick” ever since she was 9 years old. She said she would have benefited from workshops to cope with “that negative language” and understand that her life is “about me, not about what [people] want me to be.”
[From US Weekly]
I honestly don’t think Debbie meant anything mean-spirited. I think she was trying to relate a story, and she probably forgot that she might be stepping into a landmine of women’s body image issues. For all we know, that’s how Debbie and Raven talk to each other, like they have little nicknames for each other. Debbie’s nickname for Raven is “heifer” and Raven’s nickname for Debbie is “bitch who doesn’t know when not to refer to someone as a heifer.” Amongst close friends (and even family), I have participated in these kinds of nicknames – years ago, my roommate and I just referred to each other as “Slut” and “Whitey” (I was “Slut”). That being said, given the criticism Raven has already faced for her body, I think everyone should hold off on the heifer talk, even if it’s just a little inside joke.
Raven-Symone is shown on 10/28/08 (purple dress, credit: Fame Pictures), 2/9/09 (no paparazzi t-shirt, credit: Fame Pictures) and 4/17/09 (Toyota race, credit: WENN.com). She looks like she’s lost weight recently. Debbie Allen ais shown on 6/4/09 and 11/2/08. Credit: PRPhotos
Hmmm…the dried up old hag sounds jealous of the young, voluptuous woman, doesn’t she?
It was not meant as insult. Some people use it affectionately. I have heard used when someone is singing and doing a great job that heifer can sing.’
Debbie has known Raven since she was little and as it says in the story, she loves her.
Raven is a lovely girl, but let’s be honest: She clearly doesn’t exercise, and she’s not healthy. But if she’s happy, rock on.
@ Green Is Good: The fact that Raven isn’t waif-thin doesn’t mean that she doesn’t exercise. There are many people who maintain a fuller figure, but still remain active.
omondieu: True, true. Christina Hendricks from “Mad Men”, for example. (Love the costumes on that show!)
Debbie Allen is rude,and should be ashamed of herself.
Besides,Debbie Allen is no Twiggy herself.
Give me a break it is a term we in the south use all the time. The term can be negative or not. Depends on the context. The way she said it was not negative. People take differently depending on where you live. Boy even in America we are so unaware of how different people are State to State. Region to region. AND it is a culture thing. Heifer in the African American community is not used when talking about weight. It is used to call a female child a brat or when a female is behaving badly. (that is its negative context).
Love me some rich, creamy Raven!! You go girl!
That’s exactly why they’re called “inside jokes,” not for public audience…or Ms. Allen has a little difficulty grasping internal monologue.
Mizz Allen should know that doesn’t translate into text very well. She should have just stuck with the gooey lovey stuff that most fake celebs usually use. Like “OMG, they’re AMAZING!”
I’d be the first to say, hey, raven may claim she is healthy, but she is really actually overweight and unhealthy and obviously overeats, which is never healthy.
BUT: she looks to be about a size 14 or 16, has a pretty hourglass figure, and is packing most of her extra weight in her thighs and boobs, and not her abdomen which is the least safe place to store extra weight. she isnt a waif, but she isnt a heifer either. she looks like healthily plus sized.
If you have seen Debbie Allen in person she has no right to call anyone heifer.
How dare she say anything so hurtful about a co-star or anyone.
Wow, she was not insulting her! When you read the context it’s clear. I have friends who called each other ‘ho’ and say, ‘hey b****!’ but it’s in jest.
Anyway, I didn’t know about this!!
That’s So Raven is still Disney’s highest rated and longest running show.
They made such a biggie deal about Lizzie McGuire with Hillary Duff and Hannah Montana with Miley Cyrus. Why are these girl considered the leading tween queens when Raven beats them in the ratings???
To set multiple network records at such a young age is incredible. Congratulations Raven!!
I don’t think Raven is so much overweight as it is that she carries most of her weight in her chest area, so it makes her seem huge.
And yeah, Debbie didn’t mean it the way it read in text, but as someone mentioned aboved she should have known that wouldn’t translate on paper well.
Ok, I’m not being mean — just realistic. The girl has to walk around her thighs. She’s overweight, and it’s not healthy. And it doesn’t send a good message to the kids watching her show. If she didn’t have those high ratings, I’ve no doubt Disney would’ve put her on a diet ages ago.
“Give me a break it is a term we in the south use all the time.”
Really? I’m in the south and haven’t heard anyone use that as an expression of affection. It’s an insult.
My younger sister has her body type; she’ll never be like, stick skinny but there is definitely a difference between being overweight with that body type and looking healthy with that body type.
Unfortunately Raven is in the public eye and does not dress in clothes that flatter her frame. She is definitely what we in the black community call “thick”-a well-proportioned person who has a little extra.
Anyway, Debbie Allen didn’t mean it in a nasty way. It’s a black thing (and a Southern thing). If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. Just because you don’t get the humor, doesn’t mean it’s not funny or that the meaning was lost in print.
Edit: And everyone has their own little microcosms that they live in. It may not be a common affectionate term in certain circles of friends or in particular areas of the country (or counties), but the group of black folks I grew up in definitely used it as an affectionate term for the “thicker” ladies in our midst. They would never use it for someone who was like, actually obscenely fat but they would use it for people like Raven who are cute in their chubbiness.
Overweight or not, girlfriend needs a stylist because these clothing choices are not good
Used in this context – it was used as a term of endearment – black people would get that! Especially Southerners!
Southern women DO use the term affectionately, and black Southern women use it more commonly than white Southern women in my limited scope of observation. It is not always…or even usually…a negative term.
Second…Raven DOES look like she’s dropping weight. She was hitting an unhealthy place there for a while, and I think she’s looking better in the more recent pictures.
Third…being fat does NOT mean a person doesn’t workout. A person who is unhealthy in some way, taking certain medication (I carried an extra 15 pounds for a year while I was on steroid treatments for my back no matter what I did…pills stopped, and the weight melted off very quickly), chemically unbalanced, or just a regular, garden-variety overeater can STILL exercise and be relatively healthy while carrying too many pounds.
Raven is overweight. That’s obvious. She is not, however, on death’s door. /eyeroll.
Oh come on. Its not used as an insult in this situation. I’m in the south too and we use it just fine as a term of endearment. If you’re going to call someone out of their name intending to hurt them, heifer wouldn’t be the word, I can tell you that much.
Joel McHale said Debbie Allen is giving us more Jackee than Jackee has given us in 20 years
Goes to show, we women are our own enemies. God forbid a man said it, this forum would be asking for his head. Instead, we have people justifying it because it’s a southern thing. No way Jose, Debbie is speaking publicly about a young girl and that word is unacceptable. North, South, Black, White..you get the picture, I don’t the word has any endearing qualities about it.
What was wrong in Debbie saying..”Yeah, I know that girl…
OMG!! white people calm down!! It’s a black thing..It wasn’t an insult. If the folks at celebitchy knew anything about black culture, they wouldn’t have wasted the space to put that piece in there.
Rofl.
Gigohead, I think you’re reading too much into it. If a man said it within the same context it would still mean the same thing. It might mean something to you but here its not an insult used in that way no matter who says it.
ok, i never post comments but i do read this site a lot. can you guys cut this out? i know you don’t post a lot about black folks so here is a clue, ‘lil heifer’ is a lovetap from deb to raven. simple as that. that’s how black folks talk sometime, damn, i cannot believe you guys posted this. grow up, or invite more black folks to your homes.
Yeah IT MIGHT BE A black southern thing my cousin just said,” Look heifer, where is my CD’ and we are from Houston.
@ me…thank you!! It IS a term of endearment amongst AA’s, in the similar way that Paris Hilton calls everybody “bitches”. And, given that Debbie has her own issues with weight, why would she even deign to call Raven out. It doesn’t make sense people.
I don’t think it was meant as an insult, but women should stop using that term for other women.
And if Debbie Allen ever considers going off on another woman’s looks, she should look in the mirror and reconsider opening that can of worms.
even if the girl is fat, obese, overweight or downright unhealthy… who cares? i mean seriously… i don’t give a shit… even if she drops dead tomorrow… let her immediate family deal with it. i think mean people just try to mask their poor attitude with concern for someone’s welfare. and PLEASE don’t say it’s because you’re concerned about your tax dollars… big eyeroll there… especially considering the girl probably has enough money to take care of her medical bills. just mind your own beeswax man… how hard is that to do?
and she could have definitely omitted the word “heifer” when referring to her. totally unnecessary…
Um, she meant it lovingly. She did NOT mean it as a slam. I hear my friends use language like that all the time to each other, it’s not meant to be insulting.
Amen to everyone setting people straight.
Signed,
White Lady with about Five Thousand Wonderful Black Girlfriends in Dallas!
AKA heffa. LOL.
Who Gives a Shit: you’re right. With my white female (close!) friends, we tend to say “bitch” or “whore.” Especially if we’ve been drinking.
Absolutely it was a term of endearment. Even if you’ve never heard it used that way before (and I certainly have living in NY not the south) just look at the context. And it has nothing to do with weight.
I don’t see the problem? Debbie seems like the type of woman who will call you a heifer to your face in a playful manner and she has probably said it to Raven before. I’m sure she spent time on the Cosby set since her sister was on it and she worked with Cosby on a different world. So she didn’t just meet her on That’s So Raven.
Personally, I have never heard this term before used in a positive context. Do you know why? I’m white and from Seattle!
That doesn’t mean in other areas of the country it isn’t used as a term of endearment. Why are people so worked up about this?
And for the record? If you are the adorable kid from the Cosby Show (Rudy or Raven) you are golden in my book provided you aren’t out there doing drugs or acting awful. Chubby, skinny, I don’t care. 🙂 Gotta love ya!
This is definitely a cultural miscommunication. I read Debbie’s statement as one full of affection.
I don’t think it was an insult. A friend and I used to have nicknames for each other, we’d get on the phone and go “Hey Bitch” “Hey Slut” etc. I was Bitch, hehe.
in african american communities or downsouth females call eachother heifers and anyone that knows that doesn’t take offense. I am sure if Raven and Debbie Allen have a personal relationship she won’t take offense either.
She just needs to stop eating the other Cheetah Girls is all.
good LORD, all the “offended” fools up in here, clutchin’ they pearls… context is EVERYthing, idiots.
If she had said “ooh, that bitch is crazy. I love her!” no one would bat an eye or think for a moment she was being insulting.
Shut up, Meg.
firedmyass- just so we’re absolutely clear on this, no one on the entirety of planet Earth talks like a sassy black maid from a 1950’s sitcom anymore. Go back to the TV screen that spawned you.
I do not see a problem That was a statement of love.
That’s just Debbie’s personality, she’s always been very outspoken, over the top and also very funny.
I don’t think it was a disparaging comment against RS’s weight.
Heck my sister refers to her teenage daughters as “little heifers” jokingly (when they are out of ear shot, of course) and all of her daughters (my nieces) are very skinny.
It is a term used commonly by black women (mostly from the south). It’s not a name that’s always associated exclusively with weight issues. It could also be a little nickname or twisted term of endearment.
Funny, I always thought white women called each other “heifers” too…
“Heiffer” and “heffa” are terms of endearment. You can even put modifiers in front of it, like “Ol’heffa” or “lil heffa” and even “crazy heffa”. If you’re a woman from the South and nobody has ever called you that, then I have have some bad news: You ain’t got no People. Where I live,(in the Panhandle) it’s used as much by black folks as white folks, and it’s never meant as an insult. “Bitch” is iffy- that one has to be taken contextually. I even call my guy friends “bitch” if the situation is severe enough- as in “you poor bitch, do you want me to come over?”.
“Heiffer” is not an insult. It’s just not. It doesn’t have anything to do with weight or body structure.
This is terrible! I hate to tell everyone, except you LOTTALUVIN, that this is a southern thing. I can’t recount how many times I did or said something and my mom or grandma responded ‘you lil’ heifer’. It is not AT ALL meant in it’s literal terms. What’s really sad is that Debbie has probably said it to her a million times, in the context of endearment, and now this and other articles have turned it into something bad. I wonder if Debbie will feel the need to choose her words more carefully, altering the obviously candid and close relationship she has with Raven.
As I think the first time Raven came in The Cosby Show she charmed the viewers and know on she charmed us even. She is so a quitie. She is become a beautiful women. I like here
Hahahahhaha Bitch is Not a term of endearment.. Debbie Allen is a prejudice woman who doesn’t know love. Her own mother called her a failure whenevr she didn’t succeed. “Heifer” …term of endearment or a replay of what her mother put her through??? I myself have had her critisize me, not so much a term of endearment! Dont try to stick up for her rude actions.. God forgive her
Uggggghhhhhh I can’t believe u people!!!!! The effing industry is NOT the damn south!!! It is NOT okay stop sticking up for her . Debbie shud have known better period. Yes ii have friends and sisters who use heifer as a term of enndearment HOWEVER PEOPLE WITH WEIGHT AND EATING ISSUES R NOT OK TO PLAY WITH IN THESE WAY!!!! Don’t be ignornant.