Raven-Symoné Spring Valley High School Controversy: ‘The View’ Co-Host Slammed For Comments Made About Assault Video
Raven-Symoné is back in the hot seat after she angered viewers with her comments about Officer Ben Fields violently yanking a black female student from her chair at Spring Valley High School. The controversial co-host of ABC's "The View" admitted that Fields' actions were "ridiculous," but said the student shouldn't have been using her cell phone while in the classroom.
“We don’t know if she popped off at the mouth, what she said, but she did not get up," Raven-Symoné said after watching the assault video (via The Wrap).
"[The officer] talked to her for 30 seconds and she still didn’t get up… she still didn’t put the phone away," she added. "You do not need to be manhandling a child that way, but at the same time kids – put your phones away.”
The former Disney star added that young people have to "understand authority." Following the show, the 29-year-old further commented on her stance, saying on "After The View" that the girl should have been following the rules.
“The girl was told multiple times to get off the phone. There’s no right or reason for him to be doing this type of harm, that’s ridiculous, but at the same time you have to follow the rules in school," she told her co-hosts Michelle Collins and Paula Faris. "First of all, why are there cell phones in school? This shouldn’t be a problem to begin with and he shouldn’t [have] been acting like that on top of it. But at the same time get off your phone, you are in school, get off your phone… There’s two wrongs.”
Almost immediately, Raven-Symoné was criticized on Twitter for seemingly placing the blame on the student. One fan even started a Change.org petition asking for the actress to be replaced on the show. So far, the petition has over 20,000 supporters.
As previously reported, Raven-Symoné came under fire last month after she said on the daytime talk show she wouldn't hire a person with a "ghetto" name. Fans also called for her to be fired after those comments. The former child star eventually issued an apology.
So far, the co-host has not commented on the latest backlash she's received.
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