Toria Sheffield joined the PEOPLE editorial staff in 2024. Her work as a writer/editor has previously appeared in places like Bustle, LAMag, and HelloGiggles.
Raven-Symoné is opening up about what it was like to get breast reduction surgery at age 15.
During the Dec. 5 episode of her Tea Time with Raven & Miranda podcast -- which Symoné, 38, co-hosts with wife Miranda Pearman-Maday, 37 -- the former Disney Channel star reflected on her experience growing up in front of the camera and the pressure to fit into a specific beauty standard.
Symoné revealed that she had the first of two breast reduction surgeries at the suggestion of the adults around her.
"I went from a triple D all the way down to a B. Someone said I needed to do it in order to get a show," she recalled, adding that her father also "suggested strongly" that she have the procedure done.
Symoné also shared that she opted to get liposuction at the same time in an effort to quiet external chatter about her size. "I was like, 'Yeah, if I get lipo, will people stop calling me fat?' And so, I got a twofer,' " she said.
The Cosby Show alum recalled that the surgery, which entailed a lot of "paperwork" as she was a minor, was not without compilations. She suffered a seizure when she awoke due to the anesthesia, and she said she still has scars on her breasts more than 20 years later.
"I have scars. I still have scar tissue to this day," she shared. "And I gained weight after and had to, like, go back for a quick little, like, [get] a little bit more out 'cause [my breasts] were still too big for others' feelings."
The actress also reflected on how times have changed -- specifically within the body positivity movement, noting, "There's this beautiful embracing of the body now that I didn't get as a young girl."
This isn't the first time Symoné has opened up about feeling constricted by societal pressures when she was a young working actress.
During a 2023 interview with E! News, the former The View co-host -- who came out as gay in 2013 -- said, "There were a lot of challenges," adding that her decision to come out wasn't easy. "There was the crumbling of the wall that I had put up for so many years. And I felt very vulnerable," she said. "It was an interesting wound that was opened up in public."
"I want to make sure I'm creating content that reflects the community that we're a part of. Respectfully and with dignity," she added.
Symoné and Maday, who wed in June 2020 after five years of dating, talk about everything from "trending news to timeless curiosities" every Thursday on Tea Time with Raven & Miranda wherever podcasts are streaming.
%3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%3Afocal(926x510%3A928x512)%2FRaven-Symone-Surgery-120824-02-f9e862ad7c5145bc8596afd5a184b212.jpg&w=3840&q=75)