Raven-Symoné is looking back at the pressure she faced over her body as a young star and why she now regrets undergoing breast reduction surgery as a teenager.
The 40-year-old actress opened up about having two breast reductions while she was still a minor during the Oct. 5 episode of the “Allure Perspectives” podcast. Raven-Symoné said she now believes she should have waited until she was older before making such a major decision.
“Do I have any regrets about it? Yes, because I was too young,” she said. “I should have gotten it done after puberty.”
Raven-Symoné said the surgery itself was “very well done,” but she feels the decision was made too quickly and wishes she had been more comfortable speaking up for herself at the time.
“It was hastily done, and I wish I was stronger to say no,” she said.
The former Disney Channel star has previously shared more about what led to the procedure, including the outside pressure she faced over her appearance.
Raven-Symoné Says She Was Told to Get Surgery at 15
During a 2024 episode of “Tea Time with Raven & Miranda,” Raven-Symoné revealed that she was just 15 when she underwent her first breast reduction after someone told her she needed the surgery to get a television show, per Us Weekly.
“I went from a triple D all the way down to a B,” she said. “Someone said I needed to do it in order to get a show.”
She also underwent liposuction at the same time after dealing with comments about her weight.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, if I get lipo, will people stop calling me fat?’” she recalled. “And so, I got a twofer.”
The procedures also came with complications. Raven-Symoné said she suffered a seizure while waking up from anesthesia and still has scars and scar tissue. She later underwent additional work after gaining weight because, as she put it, her breasts were still “too big for others’ feelings.”
Her confidence has changed since then. Raven-Symoné estimated that she was only about “10 percent” confident during the height of her Disney Channel career. Today, she said she feels about 80 percent confident in her own skin.
Raven-Symoné Says Body Pressure Started Years Earlier
Raven-Symoné’s struggles with her body began well before her teenage years. She started acting at 3, playing Olivia Kendall on “The Cosby Show,” and recently revealed that costume fittings made her conscious of her size at an early age.
Raven-Symoné said comments made during fittings contributed to her experience with body dysmorphia. By age 9, she was already changing what she ate based on how she thought her costumes would fit.
“By the age of 9, I knew that I couldn’t have bagels and cream cheese in the morning,” she said. “Because my outfit would show how big my tummy was.”
Those challenges continued as she became a Disney Channel star. Raven-Symoné previously said designers often did not carry her size, forcing her to purchase her own red carpet outfits even as she became known for the colorful fashion of “That’s So Raven” and “The Cheetah Girls.”
“I didn’t get that free stuff growing up,” she said, according to the podcast interview, per PEOPLE. “I had to buy everything that I wore on those carpets. I had to buy those thousand-dollar outfits because no one had my size.”
Looking back, Raven-Symoné believes there is more acceptance of different bodies today than she experienced while growing up in Hollywood. She also hopes the entertainment industry continues becoming more mindful of how comments about a child’s body can affect them.
“There’s this beautiful embracing of the body now that I didn’t get as a young girl,” she said.
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Raven-Symoné Gets Candid About Regretting Breast Reduction Surgery as a Teen