Why Raven-Symoné Rejected Disney's Offer To Make Her Character Gay In 'Raven's Home'

Hollywood star, Raven-Symoné is on a roll and recently opened up about an interesting offer given to her by Disney executives. She played a teenager who could see the future named Raven Baxter in the early 2000s' "That's So Raven." She has now reprised her role in a reboot of the series, "Raven's Home."

After years in the entertainment industry, Symoné came out as gay in 2013, when few famous people were gay. She revealed that she found out about her sexuality as a teenager but was kept from disclosing it due to the social climate at the time.

According to Symoné, while preparing for "Raven's Home," the Disney producers asked if she wanted her character to be gay like her. The actress rejected the offer because there was no supporting backstory to the sudden sexual change.

Read on to learn more.

In a newly published video interview with Them, Symoné revealed that she refused Disney's offer to make her Disney character gay. The actress and Anneliese van der Pol reprised their roles in the reboot of "That's So Raven," "Raven's Home" in 2017.

The series was released around ten years after the original show ended and saw the friends navigate life as adults and with their own children. During the interview, Symoné revealed that when she asked the producers why they wanted Baxter to be gay, they said it was because she was.

The actress said that at the time, she didn't see it as a good reason for the sexuality switch and told them so. "I think Disney wanted her to be queer in the beginning, and I just didn't feel comfortable doing that," Symoné said. "They were like, 'Do you want Raven to be gay?' I said, 'Why?' [and they said,] 'Because you are.' I said, 'Bad, bad reason. That's a bad reason.'"

https://youtu.be/z6bSu6rIVpA?t=834

Symoné further explained that Baxter, in the Disney show, had never shown any sexual identity and so suddenly coming out as gay was kind of off. "Raven Baxter never exhibited any type of sexual identity situation in the priors. I'm not being myself on this show, I'm being a character. Raven Baxter's not gay," Symoné said.

"No matter what the first four seasons looked like, with me and Chelsea sleeping in the same room and us raising a family together. Okay, that's not the case. We are friends. Who sleeps in the same room," she continued.

The actress also revealed that she didn't want Baxter to have any romantic relationships in the "That's So Raven" spinoff. Symoné said, "It's so funny because we're working on the sixth season now, and I'm talking to the EPs, and they're like, 'And you're gonna start dating?' I'm like, 'She don't need to date either. She's just gonna be nothing.'"

In an interview with the "Pride" podcast last year, Symoné disclosed that she felt proud of playing her character Baxter despite her being straight. She explained that she felt no need for the tv character to be changed to be more attuned to the actress.

Symoné explained per Insider, "The reason I said no wasn't because I wasn't proud of who I was or I didn't want to represent the LGBTQ+ community in any way. It was because Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter is Raven Baxter, and there was no reason for me to change the human that she was in order to fit the actress that played her."

The actress added that the character was divorced in the movie, and she felt no need to object to her having a boyfriend.

In an earlier candid interview with Insider, Symoné talked about the mental growth she had to undergo from her child star period. Her time in the entertainment industry began when she was a toddler. A number of modeling agencies signed the actress, and she even appeared in commercials.

While talking to Insider, Symoné said that compared to her previous years, she now had more control over her public appearance. "Up until my late twenties, there were people telling me how I should look — it was just easier to be told what to do," she said.

Symoné continued, "But now that I'm feeling empowered by the new generation of just being yourself on camera, and my own self really marinating in my own juices and understanding who I am and who I feel comfortable being, I'm able to present how I feel as Raven-Symoné, the entertainer."