Much ado about nothing? Raven-Symone thinks so. Appearing as a guest host on The View on Monday, March 16, the former Cosby Show star offered an unpopular opinion about the Univision host who was fired recently for his comments about First Lady Michelle Obama.
As previously reported, Rodner Figueroa was dismissed from his position on El Gordo y la Flaca after he said on air, "You know that Michelle Obama looks like she's from the cast of Planet of the Apes, the movie." Amid the ensuing backlash, he penned an apology letter stating that he is "not racist in any way."
View co-host Rosie Perez, for one, isn't convinced. "A lot of Latin people recognize the fact that we do have African blood in us. A lot of them do not want to recognize that fact, and that's where this stems from," she said on Monday's episode.
"There is a secret in the Latin community, specifically the Caribbean, South American, Central American, Latin community, that they are very racist," she continued. "They never want to be in the same group as black people. And it's sad. It's very, very sad. And he did say Michelle Obama looks like a cast member of the Planet of the Apes."
Symone, 29, piped in then with her opinion, which did not go over well with Perez. "Was he saying it racist-like?" she asked. "Because he said that he voted for her later and I don't think he was saying it racist."
Perez was incredulous. "Oh, please! That's like saying 'I'm not a racist, I have black friends,'" she scoffed.
Symone's fellow guest host Michelle Collins weighed in, too, suggesting that Figueroa might be more ignorant than racist.
"My thing is, I think he's a gay guy, he is a comedian — you know, according to him — and he is biracial himself. I have a feeling he said it without even thinking," she argued. "I think he should be fired for stupidity. Because if you're too stupid to realize that that's offensive to begin with, you should not be on TV."
Perez was adamant, though. "No. I am the Latin person here on this table, and I would like to tell you that it was racist, period," she said forcefully. "And the thing is, this is a problem in the Latin community, that we do not talk about, that we do not address, and it is real and it was revealed by this man's statement. And you do not disrespect the First Lady of our country."
After some applause from the audience, Symone spoke up again. "Michelle, don't fire me from this right now, but some people look like animals," she said. "I look like a bird! So can I be mad if somebody calls me Toucan Sam?"
