'That's So Raven' costar says Raven-Symoné wasn't initially the show's lead because of 'racism'

• "That's So Raven" star Anneliese van der Pol said Raven-Symoné wasn't the initial lead of the series.
• On Christy Carlson Romano's podcast, the actor suggested it was because of "racism." 
• "They couldn't really see a Black girl leading a show," she said, referring to the Disney Channel.

"That's So Raven" star Anneliese van der Pol recently told fellow Disney Channel alum Christy Carlson Romano that she believes Raven-Symoné wasn't initially chosen as the lead of the hit sitcom because of "racism." 

On Tuesday's episode of Romano's "Vulnerable" podcast, van der Pol, who played Raven Baxter's best friend Chelsea Daniels on the Emmy-nominated show about a teenager named Raven with psychic powers, explained that when she first began auditioning for the show, it was called "Absolutely Psychic" and Raven-Symoné's character wasn't the star. 

"She was the sidekick... They were looking for a lead," Van der Pol said at about the six-minute mark of the podcast. Van der Pol initially auditioned to play the lead character, who she thought was named Molly. Another actor, who she didn't name, ultimately got the lead role, and Raven-Symoné's character was supporting. 

But that all changed when production actually started, according to van der Pol.

"When they filmed, they realized that Raven was the funniest one and had a following and so they bumped her up to first position," she said, adding that when they revamped the show to center around Raven Baxter, they reauditioned people. At that point, van der Pol got the part of Chelsea. 

Van der Pol told Romano that she thought the fact that Raven-Symoné didn't get the lead role in the first place was "racism at a low level, I guess if that's even a possibility."

"They couldn't really see a Black girl leading a show," she suggested, speaking about Disney. She claimed that the company could only see Raven as the sidekick. 

"And it's funny," Romano responded, "with Disney it's not personal, it's business."

Representatives for the Disney and for Brookwell McNamara Entertainment, the production company that produced the first three seasons of "That's So Raven," didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. 

Later in their conversation, van der Pol told Romano that she knew Raven-Symoné, who married her wife Miranda Maday in 2020, was gay "the moment I met her" during the casting process for "That's So Raven," which began airing in 2003 and concluded with its fourth and final season in 2007. Van der Pol said that they bonded from that moment on because Raven-Symoné felt comfortable around someone who knew her full identity.

The former talk show host came out when she was in college. 

"That's So Raven" was so successful with Raven-Symoné at the helm that it spawned two spinoffs. The first, called "Cory in the House," followed Raven's younger brother Cory (Kyle Massey) as he moved with their dad Victor (Rondell Sheridan) from San Francisco, where "That's So Raven" was set, to Washington, DC, when Victor became the president's personal chef. It aired for two seasons between 2007 and 2008.

The Disney Channel then launched a revival called "Raven's Home" in 2017 that is still currently on the air. It began with Raven and Chelsea, now adults, living together as Chelsea supported the newly single Raven in raising her twin children. Van der Pol exited the series in 2022, after the fourth season.

In a 2022 interview with Them, Raven-Symoné said she thought the fact that she was gay was a "bad reason" to make her character Raven Baxter gay. So, on the show, she plays a straight divorced woman.

Discussing the issue further on the "Pride" podcast, the "Bold Type" star said she likes to distance herself from her characters as much as possible, because as a Black gay woman, "I'm stereotyped for the rest of my life, let's just keep it 100."

"Raven's Home" airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on the Disney Channel.