Speaker 1: Hey fam, Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2: Today on the bright Side, we're joined by Disney Channel Royalty.
Speaker 2: You might know her from that So Raven, The Cheetah Girls,
Speaker 2: and now the CW's original game show Scrabble. It's the one,
Speaker 2: the only Raven Simone. She's here with us today. It's Thursday,
Speaker 2: October twenty fourth. I'm Danielle Robe.
Speaker 1: And I'm Simone Voice.
Speaker 3: And this is the bright Side from Hello Sunshine, a
Speaker 3: daily show where we come together to share woman's stories, laugh,
Speaker 3: learn and brighten your day. Danielle, Danielle, today is such
Speaker 3: a big day for the show. We have Raven Simone
Speaker 3: here with us today.
Speaker 1: Are you crying? Not yet? Not yet, but there will
Speaker 1: be tears. I'm sure. I'm so excited about this.
Speaker 2: She's she's one of the few people in Hollywood who
Speaker 2: has almost checked every box. She's hosted, she's acted, she's directed,
Speaker 2: she's danced, I mean just across the board.
Speaker 3: Well, she checked the box of My Heart a long
Speaker 3: time ago. I've probably seen every episode of that So Raven.
Speaker 3: I just have these vivid memories of me and my
Speaker 3: little cousin Maya sitting on her couch watching That's so Raven.
Speaker 1: Until we passed out.
Speaker 3: I mean not to get too deep, but like we
Speaker 3: were actually going through some grief as a family, and
Speaker 3: Raven Simone just brought so much joy to our lives.
Speaker 1: Like she was just so goofy and silly and fun
Speaker 1: and free, and that energy was so contagious.
Speaker 2: I feel like that's what the best comedians do, right,
Speaker 2: if they like bring joy in in good times and
Speaker 2: in hard times.
Speaker 3: Fun fact about that so Raven It was actually the
Speaker 3: first time a black woman starred in a self titled
Speaker 3: comedy series on the Disney Channel.
Speaker 1: I mean that's huge.
Speaker 3: Like, I truly don't know that we have given Raven
Speaker 3: Simone enough credit for her how much of a trailblazer
Speaker 3: she is.
Speaker 2: Okay, we've talked about her acting chaps, we've talked about
Speaker 2: her comedic genius. Can we talk about the Cheetah Girls,
Speaker 2: Girl Power two point zero.
Speaker 1: She had a girls, she had a sister.
Speaker 2: Those albums and movies just brought so much joy to
Speaker 2: our lives.
Speaker 1: And I actually didn't know this.
Speaker 2: She's released four albums and performed on Broadway. She's really
Speaker 2: done so much.
Speaker 3: Just a megawatt talent, and now she's in her game
Speaker 3: show host Era I'm so excited for her. Raven Simone
Speaker 3: is currently hosting Scrabble on the CW and she's actually
Speaker 3: a board game fan irl.
Speaker 1: Y'all, Hi, Dan, Yelle.
Speaker 3: What do you think that we have to do to
Speaker 3: score an invite to one of her legendary game nights?
Speaker 1: How do that?
Speaker 2: Okay, that's our goal for this interview is we need
Speaker 2: an invite to game night.
Speaker 1: You and I are word girls.
Speaker 3: I always say that my goal for an interviewer conversation
Speaker 3: is to get another conversation. I want to get a
Speaker 3: game night out of this conversation.
Speaker 2: Okay, we're definitely putting that on our wish list, So
Speaker 2: let's bring her in. The one and only Raven Simone.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 1: Oh thank you.
Speaker 4: I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 1: Raven Simone. I have to fangirl just for a moment.
Speaker 3: You mean a lot to me because you were my
Speaker 3: first famous Simone on TV. I know it's only part
Speaker 3: of your name, okay, but for all the Simones in
Speaker 3: the world and for all the times people have misspelled
Speaker 3: my name, I was just like, oh my gosh, there's
Speaker 3: another Simone and she's goofy.
Speaker 4: Do you smell like similar, We don't, okay, but that's okay,
Speaker 4: that's fine. It was the same, you know syllables exactly.
Speaker 3: I feel like we have to give you your flowers
Speaker 3: because you were the youngest black woman to have a
Speaker 3: show named after her on television, one of the longest
Speaker 3: running Disney Channel stars ever. I truly don't think you
Speaker 3: get enough credit for what you did for POC representation
Speaker 3: before we were even talking about the representation, you know.
Speaker 3: And then I looked at the comments beneath this YouTube
Speaker 3: interview that you did, and it restored my face in
Speaker 3: the internet, because clearly everyone knows that you are still
Speaker 3: that girl. If I can, I want to read you
Speaker 3: some of these comments. Oh my people said, this woman
Speaker 3: is literally living black history. She's my inspiration. She raised us,
Speaker 3: she is the blueprint. Now, something that I've learned as
Speaker 3: I've gotten older is that receiving love can often be
Speaker 3: harder than giving it immediately. Yes, do you feel like
Speaker 3: you're at a stage in your life where you're able
Speaker 3: to receive this love?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 4: No, no, no, it's really I guess there's two types
Speaker 4: to it, right, Like I hear you and I say
Speaker 4: thank you, and that's a genuine thank you and a
Speaker 4: genuine like oh, thank you, And then the other part
Speaker 4: of me is like, who are you talking about? Like
Speaker 4: I don't know who you're talking about, because I was
Speaker 4: working so hard and a lot of stuff was going
Speaker 4: on at certain times, and I wasn't always present for
Speaker 4: those moments, so it is hard to receive the flowers.
Speaker 4: And then sometimes I'm like, yeah, you're right, I was
Speaker 4: that thank you. I do want my award that nobody
Speaker 4: gave me, but and that doesn't sit all the time
Speaker 4: on my shoulders.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 4: And then the other side was like, you don't really
Speaker 4: need it because you have so many other things that
Speaker 4: you want to do. And I'm not in it for
Speaker 4: the awards. I'm in it for the money. And I'm
Speaker 4: also in it real talk, real time talk, We'll talk.
Speaker 4: You are so funny, but I am. I'm in it
Speaker 4: to just keep working and sustain my life. And people
Speaker 4: like Debbie Allen have been working for years and I
Speaker 4: see her. She's healthy, she's happy, and I'm like, that's
Speaker 4: what I want. I work so I can live and
Speaker 4: enjoy life.
Speaker 2: You know, when I saw how happy Debbie Allen and
Speaker 2: her husband were in real life at a party, I
Speaker 2: just looked at them and I thought, that's what I want.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that is special. That whole family is our goals
Speaker 4: for me. I am friends with the family and we
Speaker 4: have waves like I'm in their life full, I'm like
Speaker 4: sleeping over and then I'm like, I gotta go, i
Speaker 4: gotta work, and we will see each other for a while.
Speaker 4: But all the while we are always connected and we
Speaker 4: know how the industry will try to tear families apar
Speaker 4: who push wedges between people, but we understand it. We
Speaker 4: can look each other in each other's souls and be
Speaker 4: like love you, love you too, see you in the
Speaker 4: next ones. I love Miss Debbie and her whole family.
Speaker 4: I was having a conversation with my friend the other day.
Speaker 4: She's a musician, but she said something that I thought
Speaker 4: was really profound. She was like, it's not the failures
Speaker 4: that you have to worry about, it's actually the successes,
Speaker 4: because the successes.
Speaker 1: Are the things that can tear families apart.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, that is a true statement as well.
Speaker 1: Both can do.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm going to be honest, like, especially in our industry,
Speaker 4: failures haunt you forever. Really, I think so, especially now
Speaker 4: social media. Unless you pay somebody to get it off
Speaker 4: the internet. That's gone. Anytime you type certain people's names,
Speaker 4: you're always going to see their failure first. But yes,
Speaker 4: the successes in families just like a just like a
Speaker 4: good old will reading that's funny, just like a good
Speaker 4: old death. In a family, somebody's going to be fighting
Speaker 4: for the success and that's my money. It's like, oh goodness, gracious,
Speaker 4: go sit down.
Speaker 2: So you bring up Debbie Allen. I want to talk
Speaker 2: about Whoopie Goldberg because I love that. Did you meet
Speaker 2: when you started co hosting the View?
Speaker 4: So we met before? Actually she remembers more than I do.
Speaker 4: We met when I was a lot younger, and she
Speaker 4: said I scared her because I was like an adult
Speaker 4: in a baby's body and she was very scared of me.
Speaker 4: I do not remember this moment, but we do have
Speaker 4: a picture together, and I'm like, it's probably that time.
Speaker 4: Then when I did Sister Act, we met while I
Speaker 4: was an adult officially conscious, and then we grew to
Speaker 4: love each other and become family.
Speaker 2: On the View, I interviewed Ego Nowoh diem a few
Speaker 2: months ago, and she has this photo with Whoopee and
Speaker 2: she said that it felt like an invitation I loved
Speaker 2: that description because you're nodding your head, did it like
Speaker 2: it feels like a stamp almost. What does that relationship
Speaker 2: or mentorship with Whoopee mean?
Speaker 4: Whoop Bee? I don't even have a word to describe
Speaker 4: Whoopye Goldberg and the energy field that she lives in
Speaker 4: on an everyday basis. All I know is that she's
Speaker 4: Auntie Whoop and you know, she's a woman of a
Speaker 4: certain age. So she has her times and her thoughts,
Speaker 4: and she speaks her mind and she has her moods,
Speaker 4: and at every single step of it, I'm like.
Speaker 1: What do you need?
Speaker 4: I got I will hold your coattails for you whatever
Speaker 4: you need. And my wife feels the same way. My
Speaker 4: wife is like, you should call her more like I
Speaker 4: still get starstruck because that's like.
Speaker 2: Auntie Whoop in the phone, even when you're out her
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving table, your starstruck.
Speaker 4: When she cooked for us, I'm still like, thanks, thanks,
Speaker 4: whoop Like, I still she's majestic, she's a unif's immortal.
Speaker 4: She's immortal, and she's looking better with age. Honey, have
Speaker 4: you seen her recently? I don't know why she likes me.
Speaker 4: I'm I'm projecting here but I have a soul and
Speaker 4: she has a soul still even though we've been in
Speaker 4: this industry for so long, and she checks in on me, man,
Speaker 4: like I just did the view the other day. She
Speaker 4: didn't talk to me through the whole television interview, and
Speaker 4: some people are like, why didn't.
Speaker 1: You talk to you?
Speaker 4: I said, because we had a whole conversation offline. We
Speaker 4: don't have to talk in the public to show that
Speaker 4: we love each other. Like she's like, you didn't call
Speaker 4: me when your brother died. I'm mad at you because
Speaker 4: you know what that is, and I'm supposed to be there.
Speaker 4: I was like, you cared.
Speaker 1: I love somebody she is.
Speaker 4: She's majestic.
Speaker 5: I love here, surely, thank you for sharing that with us.
Speaker 4: Yeah, don't worries she's I love that woman.
Speaker 3: Did it feel good to be able to dip in
Speaker 3: and then dip out of the view on the same
Speaker 3: time every.
Speaker 4: Time I kept one foot by the door, Yes, in
Speaker 4: case they tried to close me in. No, no, no,
Speaker 4: I absolutely love the people there, from Brian Teta to
Speaker 4: all of the producers, would be Sarah, all the the panelists.
Speaker 1: I think that's a special place.
Speaker 4: I do get PTSD when the cameras start rolling and
Speaker 4: we have to actually quote unquote work and do the
Speaker 4: job that we're there for. That's not my favorite, but
Speaker 4: it is my favorite to see those people and feel
Speaker 4: that love. It's a different kind of love on that set.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Raven, your range is so impressive, Like between your
Speaker 3: work on the Cosby Show that's so Raven, Raven's Home,
Speaker 3: everything in between. You've truly amassed this intergenerational fan base.
Speaker 3: But I want to know what's something only the real
Speaker 3: Raven Simone fans know about you?
Speaker 4: Ooh, oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1: Great question and a toughie.
Speaker 4: I mean, I guess the real Raven Simone fans know
Speaker 4: that I went on tour within Sync back in the day. Yeah,
Speaker 4: that I was like massively touring during ENGL. Mister Cooper, maybe.
Speaker 1: How old were you when you were touring with them
Speaker 1: with in sinc.
Speaker 4: I was thirteen twelve area it was the Bye Bye
Speaker 4: Bye era.
Speaker 1: My goodness.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was crazy. Mandy Moore was on there, Jordan
Speaker 4: Knight was on there, A third Story was there. Yeah,
Speaker 4: it was a It was a massive tour that I
Speaker 4: traveled around and I went a bago because we didn't
Speaker 4: have any record label and went to every city that
Speaker 4: they did, and they had two stages back then. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean like you had one stage that was by
Speaker 4: the front that everybody came in. It was like me
Speaker 4: and all the other ones, and then you had the
Speaker 4: big stage.
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna give all the listeners a little inside
Speaker 2: Scoop Raven showed up fifteen minutes early.
Speaker 5: I did to our interview.
Speaker 1: You're welcome.
Speaker 2: Well, you're one of the only people to ever do that,
Speaker 2: and I wanted the reason I noticed it was, I
Speaker 2: was thinking, you've spent so much of your life on set.
Speaker 2: I was going to ask you what you've picked up
Speaker 2: that you carry over into your life. But timeliness, I
Speaker 2: think is one of them.
Speaker 4: Because I did not get that from Segur.
Speaker 1: You didn't know.
Speaker 4: That came from people being late for me and me
Speaker 4: being irantated as hall because you're late and you're wasting
Speaker 4: my time. I have things to do today. Why do
Speaker 4: you think that you're more important than me? My wife
Speaker 4: is like yeah, but we're in LA like fashionably late
Speaker 4: is like cool. I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah, get the car.
Speaker 1: We got to go.
Speaker 4: It's the appointments at one. Let's get the car at
Speaker 4: eleven o'clock, and I want to be there just in
Speaker 4: case they could take me early, because if I can
Speaker 4: get in early, I can go home early and then
Speaker 4: I can go and just relax on the couch. But
Speaker 4: I don't like when people have to wait for me.
Speaker 4: I think it's disrespectub full, and I feel disrespected when
Speaker 4: people do that to me.
Speaker 5: I think that's so cool.
Speaker 1: I agree, completely agree.
Speaker 5: Okay, can we talk about that, so, Raven, let's do it.
Speaker 1: So dn't didn't.
Speaker 4: Sorry, I'm not gonna do it, Simon, and I.
Speaker 3: Do it.
Speaker 1: My soul is gonna leave my body if he starts
Speaker 1: singing the you guys sing with me, I'll sing it,
Speaker 1: of course, of course dn't.
Speaker 2: Dn't.
Speaker 4: Didn't. If you can.
Speaker 3: Into the future, future future, my thing life would be
Speaker 3: a Drees life.
Speaker 1: Is a free trouble from this.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but it's not that easy.
Speaker 1: Oh no, I try.
Speaker 4: It's goody good, Oh my wait, I just need a
Speaker 4: moment that was so insane, my jack it off.
Speaker 1: Those are so cool. You don't understand, Raven. Maybe you do,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't get it.
Speaker 4: I mean my version version.
Speaker 1: I cannot do this interview anymore. I'm again, Yeah, thank
Speaker 1: you so much. When I tell my cousin that we
Speaker 1: just did, I just I'm hilarious. Oh thanks, ladies.
Speaker 2: We have to take a short break, but we'll be
Speaker 2: right back with Raven Simone. And we're back with Raven Simone.
Speaker 2: A lot of news has come out recently about how
Speaker 2: during a few episodes of That So Raven, there was
Speaker 2: footage that was edited of you to appear slimmer.
Speaker 1: Really, yeah, were you aware of that? Yes, you told that.
Speaker 1: It's on the internet.
Speaker 2: There was a former Disney Channel exec that wrote something,
Speaker 2: where are they SIPs her water?
Speaker 4: Wow? I can't believe they released that. Cool beans, what
Speaker 4: do you say?
Speaker 1: Who was it?
Speaker 2: Adam Bonnet specifically referenced a school dance episode.
Speaker 4: So that's the Raven is. It was during a time
Speaker 4: when weight was not celebrated like it is now. There's
Speaker 4: this really interesting thing you can do with film when
Speaker 4: you're in television, and you can stretch the film. So
Speaker 4: if you're wide and you stretch it long ways, you
Speaker 4: look skinnier. And there were talks about that. I can't
Speaker 4: believe he said that out loud. Okay, Adam, do.
Speaker 5: You feel like that wasn't his story to tell?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: I don't care. It's uh, that's actually if he was
Speaker 4: the one who started it, that's fine. But I also
Speaker 4: know the culprits in that conversation that I will not
Speaker 4: name right now.
Speaker 2: In hindsight, how do you feel about that because you
Speaker 2: were just a kid, Like it's not like you had
Speaker 2: say over them doing that, or.
Speaker 4: In hindsight, I was told I was fat all the time,
Speaker 4: Like I'm used to that on set as a kid. Yeah,
Speaker 4: but not by people on set. Where was it coming
Speaker 4: from behind the scenes. That was the industry executives. No,
Speaker 4: not at all. That was the industries. That was the
Speaker 4: industry back in the day. I mean, I don't know
Speaker 4: if you guys remember, but back in the day, they
Speaker 4: thought I had O Marion's baby because I was fat.
Speaker 4: They were like, she must be pregnant. I'm like no,
Speaker 4: I like in and out, go sit down, Like what
Speaker 4: are you talking about? I'm depressed. Here's my food, Which
Speaker 4: is why if you look at my pictures from back
Speaker 4: in the day, Perez Hilton, she looks like a poodle.
Speaker 4: I didn't get the same visuals as the other ladies
Speaker 4: did because I didn't look the same, especially during that
Speaker 4: time when I gained a lot of weight from a
Speaker 4: really bad breakup, so and depression, all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 4: But yeah, that was Why do you think I was
Speaker 4: in heels during all of the Cheetah girls, Because if
Speaker 4: you were heels, you're taller and you look skinnier. Who
Speaker 4: struts in the middle of those struts in Spain?
Speaker 1: Just heels?
Speaker 4: When these ladies are in fled I love them.
Speaker 5: I would have never noticed that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, how old were you when that footage was edited?
Speaker 4: Oh? I remember edited footage. I remember the conversation's happening
Speaker 4: like from the start. So so that wasn't the only time.
Speaker 4: Oh do you hold on to that? No, I actually
Speaker 4: forgot about it. I'm really good at disassociating you guys.
Speaker 4: You guys, if you have a problem, just like, forget
Speaker 4: about it.
Speaker 3: It works that all the experts say.
Speaker 1: Just just forget about it.
Speaker 2: The only problem is, like I've heard, if you keep
Speaker 2: running from yourself, eventually you run into yourself.
Speaker 4: Oh all day, And I'm not worried about that right now, Okay,
Speaker 4: I'm talking about the initial pain. Get rid of it,
Speaker 4: it's right, and then you'll deal with it later.
Speaker 3: How did you process those things as they were being
Speaker 3: said to you, did you have someone that you could
Speaker 3: talk to about it?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 4: How did I process it? I just did?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just did.
Speaker 4: You just do what you gotta do because you have
Speaker 4: hundreds of people that rely on you to show up
Speaker 4: for a job, you have goals, you have overbearing people
Speaker 4: around you. And I was in a relationship at the time,
Speaker 4: and that person actually helped me with a lot of
Speaker 4: my self esteem because of whatever. But honey, if you
Speaker 4: only knew I'm writing a book, Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you were carrying so much from such a young age.
Speaker 3: You started performing when you were what sixteen months or something.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have a three year old and.
Speaker 3: All he says to me is like, fart, poopy mommy,
Speaker 3: poopy penis fart. I can't imagine someone being competent.
Speaker 4: And incompetent and.
Speaker 3: Articulate enough at three years old to do what you did.
Speaker 1: You just I'm so impressed by you. Took a lot
Speaker 1: of work.
Speaker 4: Took a lot of work.
Speaker 1: Well. I was watching that Hulu documentary Child Star.
Speaker 2: That was good.
Speaker 1: I liked it. I was a little afraid.
Speaker 4: I didn't know I was going down. I mean, you
Speaker 4: get to see the cut beforehand.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was like, oh, this is good.
Speaker 4: I actually want people to watch it.
Speaker 3: There's this one scene that really stuck with me where
Speaker 3: you're having a conversation with Demi Lovado about a time
Speaker 3: when you worked on her show and you told her
Speaker 3: that you instantly pinpointed this glazed overlook in her eyes,
Speaker 3: and it sounds like you kind of experienced it too.
Speaker 3: What did that term mean to you?
Speaker 4: Oh, I didn't have a glaze. I was very aware
Speaker 4: of what's going on. I think I was aware because
Speaker 4: I had multiple masks that I was working through. I
Speaker 4: knew at eleven or twelve that I was gay. So
Speaker 4: first mask towards family, next mass, family teaching me how
Speaker 4: to be in public, that's the next mass. Next mask
Speaker 4: coming through, Like I think I'm a little bit dudish,
Speaker 4: but I'm also in a relationship with a guy, So
Speaker 4: here's the next mask. I blocked out a lot of that.
Speaker 4: I never really had the glaze. What I have is
Speaker 4: the ability to turn off my light when I want
Speaker 4: to to not be seen, and people might take that
Speaker 4: however you want to. But with Demmy and a couple
Speaker 4: other people that I witnessed in the industry, the sadness
Speaker 4: is too thick.
Speaker 1: To mask.
Speaker 4: It's a little too thick to mask. And I'm sure
Speaker 4: people meeting me at a certain age might have thought
Speaker 4: the same thing. But I was very aware, so much
Speaker 4: so that when I turned eighteen and I got free,
Speaker 4: I was like, I need to go to therapy. This
Speaker 4: is incorrect. And never had a drug problem, never had
Speaker 4: an alcohol problem. I have other problems which all of
Speaker 4: my partners know about, but they're getting better now, you
Speaker 4: know what I mean. My wife has helped me so
Speaker 4: much and just grounding and integrating with who I am
Speaker 4: and undoing programming, reprogramming and making sure that I'm a
Speaker 4: semi well rounded human as best as you can be
Speaker 4: in this industry and on this planet.
Speaker 2: I personally, as like a fan of yours, have seen
Speaker 2: the light turn back on since you got with your wife.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 5: It feels like a lot changed.
Speaker 4: Yeah, a lot changed. It's not always a safe space,
Speaker 4: but my wife is a safe space, and and I was,
Speaker 4: you know, I had had a lot of different things
Speaker 4: going on that I don't tell a lot of people
Speaker 4: about because I try my best to let the quote
Speaker 4: unquote celebrity of Raven Simone rule the industry and not
Speaker 4: the personal life. Really bleed into it, but thank you. Yeah,
Speaker 4: a lot of people said I look a lot happier,
Speaker 4: and it was. I was a lot happier once I
Speaker 4: got married to her and who she is and how
Speaker 4: she treats me.
Speaker 5: When you say you let the celebrity of Raven simone
Speaker 5: rule is that because you've seen it with other celebrities
Speaker 5: or what rules that decision?
Speaker 4: What rules that decision is my old programming as well
Speaker 4: as they weren't ready for me. I knew who I
Speaker 4: was when my house door closed, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: Like that was me, that was hoodie, that was my
Speaker 4: sexual orientation, my gender orientation, all that. And then when
Speaker 4: I open the door to walk outside, Oh, Hi, how
Speaker 4: are you Tit's up. Let's do it. Let's have a conversation. Hi,
Speaker 4: Like I know it. So I just knew how to
Speaker 4: play that because my programming taught me that that's what
Speaker 4: people want to see. And it's still in that way,
Speaker 4: you know, especially as a female in the industry, they
Speaker 4: need to lust after you. For you to be popular,
Speaker 4: you need to have the sex factor. And I never
Speaker 4: really totally grasped my sensuality and sexuality in public view
Speaker 4: because that was not really a true moment for me
Speaker 4: now being that I'm in a comfortable space in my
Speaker 4: life and who I am. I have it myself and
Speaker 4: if somebody sees it, they see it well done. But
Speaker 4: it's not not like it used to be.
Speaker 3: What do you think young closeted Raven Simone needed to
Speaker 3: hear the most what age?
Speaker 4: Pick an age? I'm gonna let you pick the age.
Speaker 4: Oh goodness, I'm gonna pick like seventeen. You don't have
Speaker 4: to continue the facade anymore and lash out at people
Speaker 4: around you because they want you to be something you're not.
Speaker 4: You don't have to continue those sad and you're okay
Speaker 4: to just do you. But then again, that would have
Speaker 4: been a lie because at that time it was not okay,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean? Like I needed to hear
Speaker 4: that the world has changed, even in the past five years.
Speaker 4: It's changed, you know, and it's rapidly doing that even
Speaker 4: more now, more and more is okay? I don't know,
Speaker 4: other than you can quit. You can quit. Probably needed
Speaker 4: to hear that.
Speaker 1: Did that not feel like an option? That was no?
Speaker 4: No, no, not feel that was not an option? Still
Speaker 4: is not.
Speaker 1: Can't quit?
Speaker 4: You can't quit because I'm addicted to the life. I'm
Speaker 4: addicted to the check. I like it. Now I found
Speaker 4: what I like and if back then I was doing
Speaker 4: things that I didn't like, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: So now I found I direct, I produce, I'm working
Speaker 4: with my wife like, I have people around me that
Speaker 4: I like and I want to really work with. Back then,
Speaker 4: I probably should not have been in the public eye.
Speaker 2: I feel a heaviness when you talk about that time.
Speaker 2: Just sitting here with you. I know that you are
Speaker 2: doing your own development deal with Disney now and you
Speaker 2: have opportunities to tell stories that you want to share.
Speaker 2: I'm wondering what you're excited about producing if there's a
Speaker 2: gap you see the stories that you want to tell.
Speaker 4: Thanks to Disney for giving me an overall deal for
Speaker 4: directing and producing. Really excited about that. So obviously there's
Speaker 4: a mandate for Disney Channel, and I want to make
Speaker 4: sure that I'm a part of the zeitgeist of Disney
Speaker 4: Channel and what they're looking for. So I just directed
Speaker 4: a pilot called Alice in the Palace. It's a spinoff
Speaker 4: of Raven's Home with Michael Michelle Harris. She plays two
Speaker 4: characters in one show, Awesome I'm so proud of her.
Speaker 4: We just got a cut of the pilot and I
Speaker 4: started to tear up.
Speaker 1: What made you tear up?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Why a POC in a big princess dress for a
Speaker 4: television show.
Speaker 1: I want to cry.
Speaker 4: That's why. That's why I started tearing up. She's killing it.
Speaker 4: She's killing it, and I hope they pick up the show.
Speaker 4: That's one.
Speaker 1: Two.
Speaker 4: The stories I want to tell are normalizing stories of
Speaker 4: someone that is an LGBTQ bus libgitqua community.
Speaker 1: I like that.
Speaker 4: I like that libergita qua.
Speaker 1: Qua. It's so much better.
Speaker 2: When I host lgbt Q i A events. Do you
Speaker 2: think they'll be cool with me saying the legit community?
Speaker 4: I think if you make sure it has a French
Speaker 4: accent on top of it.
Speaker 1: Yes, I would love to see you try, Danielle.
Speaker 5: I would love.
Speaker 1: And I'm sending you the.
Speaker 4: Video and I'll stick of for you.
Speaker 2: Girls.
Speaker 4: I just can't say that. Listen, there's eighty million letters
Speaker 4: in our I don't know. I just mean something easier.
Speaker 4: Just give me one word, libita qua. I want to
Speaker 4: tell libigit da qua stories that are not quote unquote.
Speaker 4: When some people would say, like, oh, you're forcing it
Speaker 4: on us. No, we're not, but I do want to
Speaker 4: have those romance holiday conversations. When it comes to television
Speaker 4: shows and kids network, I want to make things that
Speaker 4: are actually funny. Now you're gonna say, what do you mean?
Speaker 4: What I'm gonna say is I truly believe that a
Speaker 4: taste for comedy is learned. I grew up with Jim Carrey,
Speaker 4: I grew up with Adam Sandler, I grew up with
Speaker 4: Lucy and all these people. I have a taste for
Speaker 4: comedy that's different than and I love them, but hear
Speaker 4: me out than a friend's cast. And I don't think
Speaker 4: that I'm trying to like give slapstick comedy for everyone,
Speaker 4: but I do think that for the years. Sometimes not
Speaker 4: all the times, and definitely not with my channel, but
Speaker 4: sometimes comedy for kids can be watered down because they
Speaker 4: talked down to kids, and I don't think that that's necessary.
Speaker 4: That's one of the reasons I loved doing the pilot
Speaker 4: because Michael Michelle Harris knows how to integrate physical comedy
Speaker 4: as well as standard but I'm bump jokes, but she
Speaker 4: does it in a way to where it doesn't seem corny,
Speaker 4: and I don't want to give kids corny material anymore.
Speaker 4: I want to laugh along with children's comedy at the
Speaker 4: same time a four year old is laughing the Shrek effect.
Speaker 4: I think that's fantastic, and I want to make sure
Speaker 4: that happens with anything that I touch within the Disney universe.
Speaker 5: I just had a whole revelation as you were speaking
Speaker 5: about this.
Speaker 1: Do you have a vision slight a second?
Speaker 3: That's so raven question I really want to ask you,
Speaker 3: and I'm to ask, is what is the secret to
Speaker 3: mastering that?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: Fund shouldn't look okay, Isaac, there is a secret. What
Speaker 4: is it? There is a secret. You have to keep
Speaker 4: your mouth slightly opened and your tongue down.
Speaker 1: I feel like she's drinking us, right, I'm not.
Speaker 4: I swear you can open your eyes and keep them
Speaker 4: open if your mouth is open a tiny bit and
Speaker 4: your tongue is down, and when you start to water
Speaker 4: and fight through it, you think about here you go,
Speaker 4: mouth open exactly a little bit.
Speaker 5: You did it so well.
Speaker 1: I don't even want to try.
Speaker 3: You can do it.
Speaker 1: No, you just did it. We're talking about nobody can
Speaker 1: do it like you.
Speaker 4: Well, this is true, but you did it pretty well.
Speaker 4: No Isaac, my little my son on Raven's home. He
Speaker 4: asked me that question. I was like, you gotta do it.
Speaker 1: So I love this boy. Guy.
Speaker 4: He's a grown ass man. Sorry, I love this dude.
Speaker 2: He the way you described him was like he was
Speaker 2: a four year old.
Speaker 4: I know because I knew him when he was twelve
Speaker 4: and I was eighteen. He's like a sexy boy.
Speaker 1: I can't handle.
Speaker 4: It's weird. But he has a music career and she
Speaker 4: go check it out. He asked me, how do you
Speaker 4: do it? I was like, haha, I'm not gonna tell you.
Speaker 4: I'm i gonna tell you how you do it. And
Speaker 4: during the season we would have vision offs, like who
Speaker 4: could last longest without blinking. I always won, of course always.
Speaker 4: He always I'm like, you blinked? He so I can't
Speaker 4: do it.
Speaker 1: I said, I have a fu.
Speaker 4: You got the visions you can't blink.
Speaker 1: Oh my god.
Speaker 4: I had so much fun with him.
Speaker 2: Well, the vision I had we were speaking was that
Speaker 2: that is what made you so funny on that so Raven.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like you were playing this character. It was
Speaker 2: like you were the next generation. You had inherited this
Speaker 2: gift from people like Whoopee and Jim Carrey and Robin Williams.
Speaker 4: There are very few people carrying that torch. Now, I
Speaker 4: think Michael Michelle Harris will be able to do it.
Speaker 4: And I think that as we continue to look for
Speaker 4: talent in the younger community and I'm there to help
Speaker 4: them through it, I think we can do that. I mean, listen,
Speaker 4: when I go through a boot camp with any of
Speaker 4: my kids from any of my shows, the first thing
Speaker 4: I do is say you better get Nike ad night
Speaker 4: because I'm gonna make you watch everything. And I always
Speaker 4: ask in an audition what television shows do you watch?
Speaker 4: And when they go to two thousands comedy and say,
Speaker 4: oh my god, I go, mm okay, I'm gonna take
Speaker 4: you back to the fifties. I'm gonna take you back
Speaker 4: a little bit further, just suck it up, and I
Speaker 4: need you to watch and see the difference. When they
Speaker 4: see the difference, they go, oh, there was something grounded
Speaker 4: about those characters, like they weren't acting. But I really
Speaker 4: do request strongly that anybody who works with me goes
Speaker 4: and watches what I watch because I also need to reference,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, Like if we're doing something
Speaker 4: and I don't know how to give a direction. I'm like,
Speaker 4: did you watch the Jimmy Fox show? Okay, now I
Speaker 4: need that character and this we're oh got it? Did
Speaker 4: you watch Martin?
Speaker 2: You did?
Speaker 4: And you're too young? That's okay, go to Jimmy Fox.
Speaker 1: Here we go.
Speaker 4: But you need those things to pull from. It's an encyclopedia,
Speaker 4: and I think with comedy, you have to learn from
Speaker 4: your ancestors, and you have to learn George Carlin, even
Speaker 4: Warren Hutcherson, Like he's a writer that worked on Raven's Home,
Speaker 4: but he was also a fantastic stand up comedian that
Speaker 4: I used to watch, and so when he came on
Speaker 4: the show to write, I was like.
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm sorry, who's taught you that?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 5: How are you such a student of the game.
Speaker 4: My parents, I wasn't allowed to watch certain television. I
Speaker 4: was only allowed to watch Nick at Night and classics.
Speaker 3: This is why whoopee said you were an old soul
Speaker 3: and a young body.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3: We need to take another quick break, but we'll be
Speaker 3: right back to our conversation with Raven Simone. Don't go anywhere,
Speaker 3: and we're back with Raven Simone. So now that you
Speaker 3: are at this creative helm and you have the ability
Speaker 3: to direct and produce, what does a raven simone set
Speaker 3: feel like? What have you made a point to do
Speaker 3: on your set that comes from your own experience as
Speaker 3: a child.
Speaker 4: Oh my goodness, Well, how am I gonna say this
Speaker 4: without sounding absolutely tyrnoral like a tyrant. I like things
Speaker 4: to be done quickly, efficiently, and move on. I don't
Speaker 4: like to belabor situation. So a rehearsal day for me,
Speaker 4: every actor, no matter what age. If you're under the
Speaker 4: age of eighteen, your parent is on set, and I'm
Speaker 4: giving parents the notes as well as the kid, and
Speaker 4: I require you to have a script at all times.
Speaker 4: There are certain things that I just don't budge on.
Speaker 4: I require you to have your script. I require you
Speaker 4: to read the stage directions so that if I don't
Speaker 4: tell you to move to the left because it's in
Speaker 4: the stage directions, you should be doing it anyway because
Speaker 4: it's there unless I tell you differently. I'm also one
Speaker 4: to have fun after we get our work done, and
Speaker 4: if we're doing so well because people are on their game,
Speaker 4: will have fun during I don't rehearse a lot. I'll
Speaker 4: do one or two who takes for rehearsal and move
Speaker 4: on to the next one, no matter what stage of
Speaker 4: professionalism you're at, because I do believe that comedy is
Speaker 4: better fresh. I believe that if you belabor it, it
Speaker 4: becomes spoiled. People start overacting and it's dangerous. And you
Speaker 4: can tell when it comes to tape day. After three
Speaker 4: days of rehearsal, everybody's like, can they do this? They
Speaker 4: did it and run through. I said, yeah, that was
Speaker 4: the first day. It was hilarious, and now we've noted
Speaker 4: them eighteen times and it's not going to work anymore.
Speaker 4: Tape day is a little interesting. I tell my kids
Speaker 4: all the time. I'm like, I love you guys. We
Speaker 4: had Monday to Wednesday together. Just because I'm not talking
Speaker 4: to you like I did on rehearsal day doesn't mean
Speaker 4: that I don't love you. Have to change my brain
Speaker 4: into cameraman, set deck and all these modes. Now, so
Speaker 4: you guys huddle together. You've created your community. You guys
Speaker 4: can handle yourself. I know you can. And then I
Speaker 4: start dealing with all the adults who have their notes
Speaker 4: and studio and to make sure that that's good and
Speaker 4: that to find that balance between the two. I let
Speaker 4: them speak. But then one of the things that I
Speaker 4: remember when I was a kid, after you did a take,
Speaker 4: it took forever for the director to come over because
Speaker 4: he was taking so many notes from so many people.
Speaker 4: I have a wonderful dialogue coach that stands with me.
Speaker 4: I say, hey, any camera things, tell me. Tell the
Speaker 4: acting to the dialogue coach, so I can go over
Speaker 4: there and make sure that these kids.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 4: Just because I'm taking a long time doesn't mean anything,
Speaker 4: because the longer it takes, the more notes you have.
Speaker 4: But if you're just left on set and you haven't
Speaker 4: been through as many shows as I have, you'd be like,
Speaker 4: oh my god, what happened? You're gonna start getting anxious.
Speaker 4: So I try to get over to the kids as
Speaker 4: much as possible, and then I like to get out early.
Speaker 3: Honeys.
Speaker 4: I like an hour lunch. I like to beat the clock.
Speaker 4: I do not like to be at their I don't
Speaker 4: like to be on set all day. I love working
Speaker 4: you guys, it's fantastic.
Speaker 1: You know what else.
Speaker 4: I love going home. There's some people I feel like
Speaker 4: they belabor work because they don't want to go home.
Speaker 1: Yes, you're basically every studio's dream. I mean, I'm righting
Speaker 1: there thinking an excellent person. Sign me up?
Speaker 4: I really do you guys?
Speaker 1: Don't you want to go home? Yes?
Speaker 4: And I tell my guys that all the camera men,
Speaker 4: I'm like, listen, fellas, Yes, show me what shot I need.
Speaker 4: If it's better than mine, I'm taking it.
Speaker 1: Let's go. Let's go. We may want it's done well
Speaker 1: and right.
Speaker 4: Well and writing. I'm not always going to be right,
Speaker 4: and I'm definitely not always well in the brain. So
Speaker 4: help me out here.
Speaker 1: I mean, help me out.
Speaker 4: That's my life.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 4: Oh my goodness, she's holding the table.
Speaker 1: Spoke to some friends at ABC.
Speaker 2: Oh no, and they told me that I had to
Speaker 2: ask you about Cheetah girls for really what they say?
Speaker 2: They said, it's it's there's been talks, there's been rumors,
Speaker 2: there's been rumblings in the hallways.
Speaker 1: Really have any of those come to you?
Speaker 2: No? Really, Oh, it's coming, it's coming. Really, you don't
Speaker 2: have to tell me yes or no. Can you just
Speaker 2: tell me what city it's going to be in. We
Speaker 2: might be very excited, we.
Speaker 4: Might be we might not. There's so many things on
Speaker 4: the horizon with the Disney channel alone, Disney brand of television,
Speaker 4: that everything is up for grabs. And I think we're
Speaker 4: in a time period and a time period in our
Speaker 4: society in the resurgence of nostalgia that I think that
Speaker 4: would be a fantastic idea.
Speaker 5: I do too.
Speaker 4: What would it look like to you? Like, what would
Speaker 4: your dream Cheetah reunion look like?
Speaker 2: First of all, we're Cheetah girls, Cheetah sisters, So the
Speaker 2: sisterhood's really important to me. I feel like there was
Speaker 2: one Cheetah girl that nobody liked and so we need.
Speaker 1: To replace her. So there really is a sisterhood. Wow,
Speaker 1: no bad.
Speaker 4: Apples, No bad apples?
Speaker 2: Whoa? This is like if we're gonna have a set
Speaker 2: that's well and right. Yeah, we need everyone to be kind.
Speaker 4: I agree.
Speaker 1: And then I love seeing a new city through your eyes.
Speaker 2: Okay, so whichever city you guys choose, I'll be hyped
Speaker 2: for lovely.
Speaker 1: Here are my notes.
Speaker 4: Okay, here my notes them.
Speaker 3: I wanted to be real, like I want it to
Speaker 3: be honest about what's transpired between all.
Speaker 1: The two in real life or in like, no, just
Speaker 1: for the characters. Okay, cool?
Speaker 3: You know, Like I think us as millennials who grew
Speaker 3: up with these characters. We're gonna appreciate that because we've
Speaker 3: all been through some shit, yeah, between the last one
Speaker 3: and now, so i'd appreciate that.
Speaker 5: Honestly, We'll take you Cheetah fans who haven't grown up
Speaker 5: on them.
Speaker 3: They can, They could get larious. Did you keep any
Speaker 3: wardrobe items from the.
Speaker 4: Set from Cheetah? Yeah, no, I kept it. I kept
Speaker 4: a lot of stuff from that so raven though. Okay,
Speaker 4: the group of women that were raised on Cheetahs are
Speaker 4: so special and beautiful and colorful and excited. And the
Speaker 4: boys that were raised on Cheetahs, Honey, let me talk
Speaker 4: about a Cheetah boy.
Speaker 1: Cheetah brothers.
Speaker 4: The Cheetah brothers don't play around. The strutt is real.
Speaker 4: So yeah, we'll see what happens. I'll let you guys know. Hey,
Speaker 4: if it comes up, I'll come back.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Cool.
Speaker 4: Cool.
Speaker 2: I just think like after Spice Girls, we didn't have
Speaker 2: like Destiny's Child wasn't in that same arena. It was
Speaker 2: gave us something else. Cheetah Girls gave us like sisterhood to.
Speaker 1: Hold on to.
Speaker 4: So it was a special pop music. I mean, I was,
Speaker 4: like I always said, if there was a cheatera reunion.
Speaker 4: I need like a rapper cheetaha. I need a cheetah.
Speaker 1: Emcy, we need a left eye. Lisa cheat a left eye.
Speaker 3: Lisa cheatah, Lisa, Lisa cheatah.
Speaker 4: I'm down for a Lisa cheetah.
Speaker 1: So much fun to.
Speaker 3: Say, almost as fun as to be.
Speaker 1: Have you seen Girls five ever?
Speaker 4: Because no, but I heard it was amazing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's so much of that that reminds me of like, yes,
Speaker 3: that's quite affair.
Speaker 4: Yea.
Speaker 1: We actually have to talk about why you're here before
Speaker 1: you leave.
Speaker 4: I got really Oh my god, hilarious. I am here
Speaker 4: for a reason.
Speaker 1: Every day you're on your game show hosting era.
Speaker 2: Yes, you're hosting the all new game shows Scrabble for
Speaker 2: the CW. Here's the thing, Raven, you could sign on
Speaker 2: to so many things. I know you're very particular. Why
Speaker 2: did scrabble get you hype?
Speaker 4: Scrabble got me hype because I love games?
Speaker 2: You do?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 4: I love a game During Raven's home Yeah, to keep
Speaker 4: all of us busy, including me, I would bring games
Speaker 4: on set. We created games to keep filming interesting. I
Speaker 4: play boggle, I play Scrabble, I play sequence, I play poker,
Speaker 4: I play all of the card games, all the games
Speaker 4: I got asked to play Scrabble, and I never thought
Speaker 4: that I would ever host a game show. That was
Speaker 4: never even came through my brain for a while because
Speaker 4: the weakest link, before the weakest link, there was only
Speaker 4: one other female game show host, and barely call that
Speaker 4: a game show never really was in my peripheral. And
Speaker 4: then when I saw ke Key, I was like, oh yeah,
Speaker 4: game show still didn't hit me as if I should
Speaker 4: do one. And then the executive producer from twenty five
Speaker 4: Words or Less said he put my name in the
Speaker 4: hat for a host of Scrabble, and I was like,
Speaker 4: what would you do, sir, there's no I really think
Speaker 4: you can do it. I'm like, no, I can't, sir.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna I'm gonna fangirl out on you right now,
Speaker 4: start crying. You guys, I've really been in my crying era.
Speaker 4: And we're not going to talk about it, blabes. I
Speaker 4: don't like to show that side of me anyway.
Speaker 5: I was gonna say, you didn't cry on this show.
Speaker 1: We're offended. We're offended.
Speaker 2: So much.
Speaker 4: But they told me about it, you guys. When I
Speaker 4: talk about research, I went down the rabbit hole of
Speaker 4: game shows. I refused to walk on that set and
Speaker 4: not know the Dick Clark specialties, the Steve Harvey specialties,
Speaker 4: the Bob Barker specialties, all the old school even like,
Speaker 4: oh my God, all the other ones that I used
Speaker 4: to watch. I wanted to make sure because rarely do
Speaker 4: you get a person of color, female to do service
Speaker 4: to a game show that part. And I also have
Speaker 4: been in the industry for thirty seven years, and I
Speaker 4: felt like it was the universe saying, hey, go get them, Tiger,
Speaker 4: you paid your dues, go get a game show like
Speaker 4: I want this to go forever and evil and evil.
Speaker 4: It was the best experience of my adult life. Wow,
Speaker 4: I got to do a whole season in a matter
Speaker 4: of a week. But to be able to stand up
Speaker 4: there and just like talk like I am with you guys,
Speaker 4: but then sometimes go and read my prompter, make sure
Speaker 4: I'm on point, Like get to interact with people and
Speaker 4: not have to say, oh, SMP is going to be
Speaker 4: mad at me here, you know what I mean? Like
Speaker 4: I don't have to be a kid, I can be myself.
Speaker 4: It's been an absolute pleasure and I feel lighter, Like
Speaker 4: you talk about earlier that my wife helped me put
Speaker 4: a smile on my face. This show has done the
Speaker 4: same thing for me when it comes to my face
Speaker 4: on screen, because honestly, honey, before this, I was like,
Speaker 4: I'm out, I'm not about to be acting. I'm not
Speaker 4: doing any of it is. So I'm going to direct
Speaker 4: and produce and if you pay me, I'll come on.
Speaker 4: But I was like, you don't even have to pay
Speaker 4: me to host this. But at the same like, I
Speaker 4: love this game. You can get it on the CW
Speaker 4: app the night after if you want, but watching it live,
Speaker 4: playing with friends and family, it's one of those game
Speaker 4: shows you yell at like family few you know what
Speaker 4: I mean. So it's it's an absolute pleasure. Yes, don't
Speaker 4: tell me it's over.
Speaker 3: Say we don't want you to be late for your
Speaker 3: next But you know what, Whoopie always says this on
Speaker 3: the view.
Speaker 5: You gotta come back.
Speaker 1: Will you come back?
Speaker 4: Oh, I'm gonna come back for the book. I'm gonna
Speaker 4: come back. If there's a reunion and you guys have
Speaker 4: to come and meet my wife on our podcast, we
Speaker 4: would love to have you.
Speaker 1: Oh my dad, it'll be so cute. Would excited done
Speaker 1: it babes. You heard it, You heard it.
Speaker 5: It'ank you, thank you, and thank you.
Speaker 3: Raven Simone is an Emmy Award winning actor, singer, producer, director,
Speaker 3: and the host of Scrabble, which airs Thursdays on the CW.
Speaker 1: That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2: Tomorrow, we're popping off with the co hosts of the
Speaker 2: Breaking Beauty podcast, Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins.
Speaker 3: Join the conversation using hashtag the bright Side and connect
Speaker 3: with us on social media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram
Speaker 3: and at the bright Side Pod on TikTok Oh, and
Speaker 3: feel free to tag us at Simone Boyce and at
Speaker 3: Danielle Robe.
Speaker 2: Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3: See you tomorrow, folks, Keep looking on the bright side.