The bombshell docuseries “Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” revealed shocking allegations about behind the scenes abuse and toxic sets at Nickelodeon during the tenure of Dan Schneider. Now, it appears Disney Channel may be in the crosshairs, as a new book includes troubling details about its alleged treatment of groundbreaking star Raven-Symoné.
According to E! News, in the book “Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire” by Ashley Spencer, the network was so overly obsessed about the “That’s So Raven” star’s weight and appearance, some execs took upsetting measures to fix what they saw as a problem.
In the Season 2 episode, “That’s So Not Raven,” our favorite psychic is replaced by a much thinner model in a fashion show, causing her to go crazy dieting and working out, until she realizes that she looks great the way she is.
The book details that “multiple people involved in the episode” told Spencer that network bosses “instructed the show’s visual effects team to manipulate footage to make Raven appear thinner in the show’s final scenes.”
Producer Michael Feldman called the alleged incident “shameful,” noting how the executives twisted the whole message and purpose of the episode.
“I don’t know how they could look at themselves and do that,” Feldman said. “The very thing that she wanted to do a story about was literally done to her. It’s still a shocking thing to me that they were that tone-deaf.”
Adam Bonnett, the former head of Disney Channel original programming, claims that this is “not something I would have asked for,” but alleged that this visual effects trick may have been used in other episodes. He revealed that in a school dance episode, “There was some stuff done to make Raven[‘s attire] look more flattering in certain scenes.”
Dava Savel, the series’ co-producer and writer, explains in the book, “Disney Channel was going crazy about it, and they handled it in really bad ways. But it was never to her face.”
While promoting her new The CW game show “Scrabble,” Raven told E! News that she does remember having “conversations” about her looking thinner. The actress has always been very open about her experience as a child star growing up in front of the camera.
While she doesn’t have children yet, when it comes to her own kids entering show business, she says she wouldn’t let them become involved in the entertainment industry until they’re 17.
In the early 2000s, Raven-Symoné was Disney Channel’s biggest star. Not only was “That’s So Raven” immensely popular, she also led the successful “The Cheetah Girls” movies and soundtracks. She’s an integral part of many fans’ childhoods and teen years, and they had plenty to say on social media about this alleged disrespect.
One user noted how unsurprising this revelation is, acknowledging Raven’s previous statements about how this affected her body image, writing on X, “Sadly, this is not shocking. She did speak briefly on how hard she tried to drop weight and be smaller because of Disney…”
Another person expressed disappointment with how she was treated, while also discussing early 2000s visual effects, posting, “As sad as this is, that’s actually impressive tech for that age.”
While Raven briefly commented on the controversy, we wouldn’t be surprised if she saves deeper thoughts and opinions for,“Tea Time With Raven and Miranda,” the podcast she co-hosts with her wife, Miranda Maday.
