Raven-Symone Says Anchor Who Compared Michelle Obama to an Ape Wasn't Racist

When Raven-Symone returns to the spotlight, she goes hard. The Empire actress makes headlines after defending ex-Univision host Rodner Figueroa's joke about Michelle Obama looking like she was "part of the cast of Planet of the Apes."

Yesterday, the actress co-hosted The View and spoke to the controversial statement Figueroa made during a makeup segment El Gordo Y la Flaca. “I don’t think he was saying it racist! Not Michelle Obama. Michelle, don’t fire me from this right now, but some people do look like animals,” she said.

There's more.

“Is that rude?," she continued. "I look like a bird… so can I be mad at somebody that calls me Toucan Sam?”

SMH. If we know one thing, it's that the actress never fails in speaking her mind and getting our attention. Last year, she opposed labels like "gay" and "African-American" in an interview with Oprah and later said, “I never said I wasn’t black.”

In case you were wondering, Figueroa was terminated and immediately wrote a letter of apology to the first lady. “I want to clarify that I’m not racist and in no way was my comment directed at you, but rather the work of the [make up] artist, which left much to be desired.”

Did anybody learn anything from the Giuliana Rancic and Zendaya debacle? C'mon, people.

[Photo Credit: ABC]