Raven-Symoné Is Facing Backlash For Featuring Colleen Ballinger On Her Podcast

Some viewers also noticed that, amid the backlash, the episode title appeared to change from focusing on Colleen’s apology to “Colleen Ballinger tells her side” — after realizing Colleen only apologized when prompted by Raven.

In the interview, Colleen discussed how her comedy style started risqué and how she didn’t “adjust” it when her audience shifted from “an older audience” to “a lot more teens.” She said she regrets not adjusting her interactions with them to be more appropriate.

“When I was interacting with my fans, I didn’t think about a power dynamic that could have been there, I didn’t think about a parasocial relationship, and I should have,” she said. “I should have been more responsible in thinking about that, but I didn’t even think of myself that way. I was like, ‘Yeah, we are friends.’ I think I felt the same way, and so for me, I was like, I’m just talking to my friends. I talk to all of them like they’re my friends, my sisters, all the fans, and I definitely should have been more careful with the way I was joking with them and the things I was saying to them.”

Still, Colleen denied the allegations of grooming. “I know that my intention and my actions have never been fueled with the desire to manipulate or groom anybody, ever,” she stated. “That has never been something I have done or will ever do. It’s a very serious accusation.” 

Even so, she said she wishes she had been more considerate of the “hurt” people expressed. Referring to the ukulele video, she added, “I obviously didn’t handle the situation the way that I should have, and it’s really embarrassing. I wish I could handle it a lot differently than I did.”

“I think people want an apology,” Raven said. “I hope that you give that to them.” 

“I agree with you,” Colleen replied. “I think they do want an apology, and I am sorry. Here’s the thing, is when you mess up and when you make a mistake and do something wrong, sometimes you gotta keep apologizing for it, and that’s what I should have done. People keep saying [the ukulele video is] an apology song — I didn’t apologize in that thing. There was no ‘sorry’ in that…It’s very clear that I was angry, and that’s why I keep saying I wish that I had just paused for a second and listened to my fans, my supporters.”

(BuzzFeed contacted reps for Raven about the claim that the episode title was changed, but did not immediately hear back.)

One person said of the alleged title change, “I love how the original title was ‘colleen’s actual apology’ and then looked back at it, realized she still never apologized unless asked to do so, and then changed the title to ‘colleen telling her side’ is truly diabolical.”

Another simply said, “The title change is CRAZY.”