Raven-Symoné reveals she had liposuction and two breast reductions before the age of 18
After experiencing body shaming as a young teen, Raven-Symoné opens up about undergoing plastic surgery.
Raven-Symoné has previously shared that she is no stranger to body shaming. Now the star is revealing a troubling history with cosmetic surgery.
On the most recent episode of her podcast with wife Miranda Pearman-Maday, “The Best Podcast Ever With Raven and Miranda,” Symoné revealed she underwent liposuction and two breast reductions before she turned 18. She further shared that she largely felt pressured to do so by body shaming she experienced as a young teen.
“My dad suggested strongly that I should get my breasts reduced,” Symoné explained. “He was like, ‘So you don’t feel bad, is there anything that you want?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, if I get lipo, will people stop calling me fat?’ So I got a twofer. It was just a mess, just being that young and the pain of it all.”
After undergoing her first breast reduction, Symoné felt her chest was “still too big” and opted to go for another. However, the second surgery resulted in a traumatic complication; the “Raven’s Home” star said she had a seizure shortly after the procedure.
“I remember waking up and seeing everything, and then I just started to have this dry mouth and couldn’t breathe and went back under,” Symoné recalled. She added that to this day, she doesn’t know the exact cause of the seizure, which still “freaks” her out.
This is not the first time the “That’s So Raven” alum has opened up about body shaming she experienced as a child star. In 2015, she recalled having her food monitored while on the set of “The Cosby Show.”
“It was definitely hard,” she said on “The View.” “I remember not being able to have the bagel or anything at — we would call it ‘crafty,’ where it’s just a table of food, ready for you to eat whatever you want. And I remember people would be like, ‘You can’t eat that. You’re getting fat!’ I’m like, ‘I’m 7! I’m hungry!’
In 2017, Symoné told People magazine she wished she were living as a young person now.
“I love embracing your body. In this day and age you have all kinds, and it’s funny, it’s serious, it’s every color, it’s every head shape, it’s every hair. And there’s androgyny and there’s LGBT coming in, and it feels good,” she said. “We didn’t have it enough last time, and I guess that’s what the past is for — to make sure the present is what it needs to be.”
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