Raven-Symoné's father is coming to his daughter's defense after the former Disney darling was criticized for her comments about Africanized names. During last Thursday's episode of ABC's "The View," the 29-year-old TV personality admitted that she would never hire anyone with a "ghetto" name.
"Just to bring it back, can we take back 'racist' and say 'discriminatory,' because I think that's a better word," she said during the show. "And I am very discriminatory against words like the ones that they were saying in the video. I'm not about to hire you if your name is Watermelondrea. It's just not going to happen. I'm not going to hire you."
Her statement followed a discussion of a new study released in the Journal of Evolution and Human Behavior that suggested Americans make racist assumptions based on names. Symoné's comments received negative backlash from a majority of social media users.
In an open letter posted on Facebook Friday, Symoné's father Christopher B. Pearman acknowledged that his daughter often makes controversial comments and he doesn't always agree with she has to say. Pearman, who previously served as her talent manager, called his daughter's comments an "inexcusable gaffe" but added that she is an adult with her own opinions.
"There has been much talk today about my daughter's comments on her show 'The View,'" he explained on social media. "I haven't managed Ravens career in over 10 years. This woman is grown, has her own management team, has her own opinions, right or wrong, and is responsible for her own words and actions. Children grow up and become influenced by many things, situations, and people. I certainly don't agree with what she said....but she is damn near thirty years old. She's a grown ass woman making grown ass mistakes. We all have been guilty of this.
"Raven is a really Beautiful, Sweethearted, Human Being.I should know. Her Mother and I Love her Very much and will always support her and have her back. Even if sometimes..........she says some dumb S#%T!"
