Raven Symone is Leaving The View for Spin-Off

Raven Symone to Leave ‘The View’ for ‘That’s So Raven 2’

Raven Symone announced she would be leaving ABC’s The View today after a little over a year as co-host of the all-female morning talk show. Symone will be leaving New York to relocate to Los Angeles in order to film a spin-off of the Disney Channel hit series That’s So Raven of which Symone was the star.

Symone joined the cast of The View in June 2015, and has been met by harsh criticism at times over her controversial view points. Still, the actress lent an important voice to the panel. Whether she was discussing pop culture or politics, Symone made it a point to “call the truth” every morning during Hot Topics.

“I definitely have a different lifestyle than a lot of people in this world – good and bad – and my views are different than one might think my views might be because I’ve never really spoken my truth until recently,” she told E! news last summer. “Hopefully I can shed some light on what I like to call the truth.” Symone did just that during her 1.5 seasons on the morning show.

During Thursday’s episode of The View Symone made the big announcement saying, “I’m excited and sad, but mostly excited. I have an announcement to make: No, I’m not pregnant,” she joked. About the spinoff she said, “There’s no title yet, but I’m calling it That’s So Raven 2. It’s Raven Baxter. It’s still me. But I am a mother this time. I’m going to be a single mother raising two kids, and one of them learns that she has visions.”

Symone’s last day on The View will be some time in December, but no official day has been announced yet. As for her exit from the morning show, Symone said, “I’ve had such a great time…I’ve learned so much, and I’ve been saying, my experience has been multidimensional.”

That’s So Raven debut on Disney Channel on January 17, 2003. The show ran until 2007, and led to a spin-off series, Cory in the House. The series was nominated twice for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children’s Programming.

As for The View the morning talk show has undergone several cast changes in recent years, and has been at the center of several controversies thanks to their often polarizing opinions and cast issues. Controversial cast exits have included Debbi Matenopoulos, Star Jones, Rose O’Donnell, Sherri Shepherd, Jenny McCarthy, and Rosie Perez. With Raven Symone leaving to pursue a new show, audiences are wondering why The View can’t keep it’s co-hosts at the table.