Raven-Symoné has confessed that people have been mispronouncing her name for years.
The former Disney Channel legend, who is celebrating her 39th birthday on Tuesday (December 10), has taken to her TikTok page to reveal that the world has been saying her name wrong for decades. She added that problems first started at the beginning of her career and fans have continued it ever since.
In the video uploaded to her social media, the star explained that her name is not pronounced “Raven Si-moan”, like how it had initially been believed. Instead, the actress insisted her second name should be pronounced “See-mon-yay”.
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Fans were left stunned by the admission, apologising for being unable to pronounce her name correctly. However, other commenters rushed to the comments section to express their confusion at the clarification, as Raven-Symoné herself has gotten her name wrong… apparently.
(Image: Getty Images)
Some fans were quick to point out that Raven-Symoné used to mispronounce her name on previous videos for the Disney Channel. In the promo clips, Raven would pronounce her name as Raven “Si-moan” as her acting career took off in the 1990s.
One user explained: “The whole time [she said] – ‘I’m Raven Simone and you’re watching Disney channel.'” The comment was particularly popular, amassing more than 4,000 likes, as they continued: “You could have said it right, cause how they gonna make you say your own name wrong?”
(Image: Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Raven-Symoné has previously opened up on her discomfort at people saying her name wrong before on several occasions, but has not explained why she let the slip-up carry on for so long. It comes after she opened up about the pressure of being a young actor and fitting into the idea of what TV execs wanted at the time.
Speaking about her experiences in the TV industry in 2016, she explained in an interview with It Gets Better that she was aged 12 when she realised she was gay. However, Raven admitted she did not feel comfortable to speak out about her sexuality as she had been “branded at such a young age” to fit Disney’s image at the time.
Fully coming out at the age of 27 in 2013, Raven said: “I never thought I would come out because my personal life didn’t matter. It was only what was supposed to be sold as the Raven-Symoné brand.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Since coming out, Raven-Symoné has tied the knot with her long time girlfriend and social media manager Miranda Maday. The pair got hitched in a lavish ceremony amid the Covid-19 pandemic in June 2020 and have been loved up together ever since.
Raven’s career has continued following her coming out, with guest appearances on the likes of RuPaul’s Drag Race and The Masked Singer. She temporarily retired from the public eye in 2013, but returned in 2015 to be a co-presenter of The View.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
