Entertainment
How Much Did Raven-Symoné and Kenan Thompson’s Childhood Fame Cost?

Raven-Symoné and Kenan Thompson discuss the value of childhood fame.
The pair join other child stars including Christina Ricci, Drew Berrymore and Alyson Stoner, who rose to fame dancing alongside Missy Elliott within the 2000s, in a brand new Hulu documentary “Child Star”” co-directed by Demi Lovato.
Symoné, who began her profession at age 3 on “The Cosby Show,” recalls the pressure she felt about her sexuality.
“There was a point in my life when I was asked if I wanted to stop being straight. But it was like the second season of That’s So Raven. It was like the third album,” the 38-year-old recalls.
“I thought to myself, ‘Why are you asking me this question now? Just to make me feel bad if I say yes, when you know I don’t really want to be here right now?’”
Symoné eventually got here out in 2013 and married Miranda Maday in 2020. In the documentary, she also noted how being a baby actor can affect family dynamics.
“But sometimes the dreams of the parents can infiltrate the dreams of the child,” she said. “And you get so caught up in that. Parents forget that children, little children, are performing for their parents. They are performing for the love and affection of their parents.”
Thompson shares this view, adding that children and their families ought to be fully prepared for the consequences of fame.
“It’s not normal for someone in your family to be famous,” Thompson said.
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Thompson, who rose to fame for his appearances in Nickelodeon shows and movies like “Kenan & Kel,” “All That” and “Good Burger,” fell victim to a shady financial advisor who stole all of his earnings. He realized what had happened when he tried to shut on his first home.
“It’s crazy to go from rags to riches and back again,” Thompson said.
Lovato’s documentary is the newest to delve into the real-life experiences of among the industry’s biggest child stars since HBO Max’s “Quiet on the Set: The Darkside of Kids TV” exposed the abuse and exploitation suffered by many Nickelodeon stars. The docuseries was groundbreaking, revealing how producer Dan Schneider created a toxic work environment for performers, writers and others. The film also details instances of significant physical, sexual and emotional abuse experienced by actors, staff and crew members.
Following the discharge of “Silence on the Set,” there have been widespread calls for greater protection of kids within the entertainment industry, which was also reflected in Lovato’s film.
“If I were to talk to my future kids, I would say, ‘Practice, practice, practice,’” Lovato said. And! News on the “Child Star” screening, adding, “Then when you’re old enough, you can follow your dreams and realize them. But it’s important to remember to have a childhood whenever you can.”
Entertainment
Tabitha & Chance Brown celebrates their love with new smells – Essence

Arnold Turner/Getty Images Friday with Tab & Chance
Favorite couple of America, Tabitha and Chance Brown simply dropped something special: their first fragrance collection together. Inspired by their many years with a love history, a new line, Fridays by tab – her business AND Fridays by accident – his businessIt was launched in time for the anniversary. In True Tab and Chance Fashion, the smells are filled with hearts, memory and intentions.
Below Essence he sat with Brown to discuss inspiration, heritage and why their smells are really higher together.
Essence: Congratulations on launching the fragrance collection! What inspired you to create this together?
Tabitha Brown: Thank you! We each loved the smell – we’re an actual junkie of the smell. If you enter our wardrobe, honey, they’re all set in a queue! But besides, we desired to do something unforgettable together. The smell restores moments. You sniff something, and it takes you. So we thought, is there a greater option to rejoice our love – and our anniversary – than to create a fragrance that appears to be a memory?
Chance Brown: I agree with the whole lot that was said. I just really desired to do something with my wife that contributes to our heritage. I like the concept our grandchildren are in a position to say: “My grandparents did it.” I’m on the age by which I give it some thought now – although we wouldn’t have grandchildren yet! But it matters to me.
It’s so thoughtful. Can everyone describe their smell in three words?
TB: Warm. Brown sugar. Embrace. I comprehend it’s technically 4 words, however it’s a climate! I wanted something sweet and comforting – like a warm hug. People say it smells like a hug, and that is what I used to be searching for after that.
CB: For me: male, sexy and long -lasting. I love when the smell continues, even after leaving the room. This is the impact I wanted.
Were there any moments in your relationship that influenced the smell?
TB: Not specific moments, but much more so the things we each love. I’m a woman with food – you realize it – so I leaned into delicious notes equivalent to vanilla, caramel and chocolate. I even began to check perfumery, mix oils and skim books to essentially understand find out how to construct a smell. I don’t love flowers, but I just wanted a touch mixed with these sweet, edible notes.
CB: I used to be inspired by the smells with which we grew up in black households. You know, oils from a person on the corner or this long -term cologne, which you smell within the church or in Howard Homecoming. These memories are priceless – but I wanted to boost this experience and bottles them. Something that smells and seems luxurious.
The bottle is so unique – you possibly can explain the inspiration of the project and what does it mean for you?
TB: When we sat all the way down to design bottles, we knew that we didn’t want something typical. We wanted sculptures – something that seemed that our love story began within the 90s, so aesthetics is certainly a nod to this era. What’s more, bottles are a physical symbol of our connection. They are forced – adapt to the hug. It’s deliberate. This is our option to say: that is love, it’s unity, it’s art.
CB: Do you realize these black paintings of art from that day – those by which my husband and wife hold on? At least one in all those on the wall had every black household. It was also our inspiration. We desired to bottle this sense. The same sense of pride, intimacy and black love that were in these paintings? This is what this project represents.
TB: If you look fastidiously, you can even see small details. One of the bottles even has waves carved at the highest – he! [laughs] We called him “wave”, so it’s like slightly joke and a love letter at the identical time. And the second bottle? It’s me. Together he tells our story.

So a bottle is greater than a pack – is a sculpture of your history?
TB: Exactly. It is functional, symbolic and delightful. Like black love.
How is the smell in line with your brand, which is rooted in love and authenticity?
TB: This fragrance is us. Who we’re. The journey we had – from our modest beginnings to this new chapter – is there. Represents traditional and non -traditional parts of our history.
CB: Our love story had its ups and downs, like many others. We began with a conventional man as a cop, TAB operating from 9 to five-then the whole lot modified when she chased her dreams and built this beautiful life through acting, content, and now business. This fragrance reflects this journey. She is familiar but fresh. Traditional but new. It smells like nothing you smelled before – however it also smells home.
TB: And when will you arrange our smells together? Phew! This is the following level. That’s what we’re – together.
How do you would like couples who have a look at you to feel when wearing this smell?
TB: I need them to feel: “Oh, I’m great and I’m sexy alone … But with my partner? We are unstoppable. We created this fragrance with the mixture in mind – if you meet, it needs to be elevated. This is what we mean and that is what we would like to represent this smell. We not only sell the product; we share our love through the smell.
We need to bring people closer to the smell – a form that makes you must bend, catch up with, stay under someone’s neck. This is magic. And for our lonely people? Honey, if you pass, we would like their heads to show. Someone will stop you: “Wait a moment … how are you?” This is the facility of an excellent smell – it attracts, connects, tells the story.
In addition to the smell, what do you hope couples take from you to cooperate?
CB: I hope that we are going to encourage marriages to maintain him at home – to construct together, dream together, develop together in business. This journey was fun, educational and deeply satisfying. We learn more about ourselves, supporting one another and construct something with the goal. It will not be all the time easy, however it’s value it. And if we could be an example of the way it looks loud to love and cooperate in business? This is a victory.

Entertainment
Terrence J, Rocsi and AJ look back to 25 years “106 & park”: “This program is the love of my life”

25 years have passed since “106 & Park” first broadcast, and even now lives without rent in our cultural memory. It was not only a music deduction program – it was an area. Safe zone. A scene by which black teenagers saw one another by which rising stars changed into icons, and where the hosts felt like your cooler cousins, who only.
Before Instagram and Tiktok algorithms, the program “106 & park” hosted, where culture moved. It gave us the twenty fifth birthday celebration Beyoncé, the last interview with Aaliyah and sofa moments so legendary that they were immortalized in museums. For many of us, regardless of whether we were aspiring journalists, creative, or just children who absorb all this is not only television – it was a plan. And now, once I ask questions, I can say without hesitation: I used to be shaped by a scene.
Now, when Bet is preparing to bring the “106 & park” aftertaste of the Bet 2025 awards, I sat with three hosts who shaped the golden years of the series – TheRrence J, Rocsi Diaz and Aj Calloway – to discuss her legacy, her influence and love, which still stays a long time.
“This program is the love of my life,” said Terrence J. “What we were able to do … It was the peak of the technology of meeting the culture in which America was then. When I look back at 25 years, I see it in a much different way than five years ago, 10 years ago or when I just left the program.”

Sit with Haniyah Philogene from Thegrio on May 7, 2025 (photo: Haniyah Philogene)
“I’m 50 years old. I started the program when I was 26,” Calloway wondered, the first co -hosted series. “To be living to see how the network recognizes work, it is extremely unique … To be here so that my children can see it, my mother – this (means (means) a lot.”
This feeling of a full circuit is also not lost to diaz. “When I hear 25 years later, it doesn’t seem so because (this) the most important thing and the basis of everything we did after” 106 “and the park.” The basis of our profession is this program. “
Is it a heritage? You can feel it in the way they discuss yourself, memories and what it means to be part of something greater than yourself. Terrence J recalls that he is in the audience during the College route organized by AJ and at no cost, observing in real time, because they created the same “real moments” that everybody remembers-as the last interview of Aaliyah.
Energy.
Fashion.
Times.
Regardless of whether Ginuwine moved around the stage on this unforgettable entrance, or Jay-Z and us standing next to one another after changing one of the most iconic rap beef in history, it seemed greater than life.
But this sort of influence didn’t simply occur overnight. Aj, who helped to put the foundation of the series, admits that he couldn’t imagine what the 106 and the park will occur. “Earlier days weren’t spectacular. It was built with sand, grind and the entire large community.
“There was a moment when no one wanted to give us clothes. I called my friends (because) my friend was the owner of a shoe store … It was all on board that something would happen,” he said, describing how his community went through. “I had a yellow leather suit for the first episode, because that’s all that I was given … to my people.”
Despite this, there was strength on this fight – in making culture before making a culture.
“(106 and Park) was” a small engine that might “, and now it is a cultural phenomenon and is an important, key part of many people (upbringing),” said Diaz.
What they built was greater than a program – it was a family. Behind the cameras, love was just as real as what we saw on the screen. From the crew to the crowd, this energy was incomparable.
“There is nothing like a family experience … camaraderie you have (at)” – added Diaz.
And that is why every few months, like Clockwork, discourse on social media begins to revolve about restarting “106 and park”. But as he sees it, what persons are really missing is greater than only a program, but “cultural importance”.
“They lack that they see us, in our best light, authentically. The stories we have supported by us, we support and I do not think that we have already had many” – he emphasized. “We don’t have many black media that authentically tells black stories and culturally significant moments. So they miss the reality, in my opinion, the authenticity of the hosts are fans of people with whom they interviews.”
Terrence J repeated sentiment. “There are many various places to get what you would like.
“106 & Park” was not only a countdown – it was communion. It was an area that celebrated black joy, creativity and complexity of our conditions. When culture is always changing, the heritage of the series serves as a reminder of what is possible after we tell our own stories, for us, through us, and not using a filter.
And now fans may have the opportunity to experience this magic. On June 9, Bet restores the heritage of “106 & Park” back to the middle stage with a special celebration of anniversaries during the BET 2025 awards.


Haniyah Philogene is a Haitian-American multimedia storyteller and lifestyle and entertainment author covering all things of culture. He sets out with passion for digital media to find latest ways of telling and sharing stories.
(Tagstranslate) 106 and Park
Entertainment
Exclusive: Dorion Renaud on Life After buttah Skin – Essence

Thanks to the kindness of Dalvin Adams
Dorion Renaudfounder Buttah skinHe has been coping with beauty since childhood. Growing up in Texan Barbershop, Renaud worked within the register, interacting with clients and learned how you can be an entrepreneur from an early age.
“I was the child who worked in the front and I thought I was running a business,” says Essence. “Watching people entering and coming out of the hair salon and my father’s beauty really influenced me, which made me look at self -care as a matter so that people feel good.”
It was only in highschool that he began to note problems with skin development, after which in college, even worse. After filling the fact show program of your first yr: “It made me very uncertainly, because it was an era of the blog. It gave” Media, Sandra Rose “.
Between the performance of micro abrasion, face and other skin treatments, he stated that the answer to his skin fears was much easy than aesthetic sessions of a thousand dollars. “You Hunter, who was a stylist Beyoncé at the time, introduced me to the vitamin C serum and I discovered Shea butter on the streets of Harlem,” he says, two ingredients, which he later became skin products in Buttah. “I was a full actor in Los Angeles and I really had to take care of my appearance. My skin was still a problem for me and finally I mastered her.”
After the debut, his skin settled and other people noticed. He reminds that he receives DM from men asking for advice on skincare, before we get to our role within the TV series Bountce. This time with healthy skin. “I wrote a business plan in my wardrobe, only a short, and I said:” I intend to do the subsequent control and arrange a skincare line and see what he’s doing, “says Renaud.
So in 2018 he put on the skin of buttah. “I was influential before influential had an impact on the face,” he says, publishing his routine on the face and skincare online. But these are the celebrities with which he was associated – and invited to the SPA – gave the buggy of the skin a platform.
“At that time I was near Kardashian,” after which I learned quite a bit from them after they raised their brands, he says. Because people respected what they built, his closeness made his brand easy to trust. “All this gave me an influence in the world of skin care.”
But, paradoxically, he didn’t learn about skincare in any respect. “I knew nothing about skin care except that I needed my skin to make it perfect,” he says, and skincare brands offer him free face masses for influential reviews. From the celebrity brand, a deeper market of skin shades floods, from Fenty Skin Rihanna to the laboratory of S’abrina Elby, finding solutions for his skin’s fears and those who looked like him, ultimately became the idea of buttah skin.
“I realized that we didn’t have any products when I went to Macy and when I went to these department stores,” he says, unable to afford such brands as Lumière de Vie, while noticing the shortage of cosmetic products for darker skin. But after inviting Lauren London to arrange the premiere event, when Cassie appeared in her largest campaign, and even Beyoncé publishes her skincare online, Renaud says that their sale has passed through the roof.
Then a pandemic hit. “The production closed and I could only focus on the skin of buttah,” he says. At that point, the eye resulting from the Black Lives Matter movement moved around black brands. “It ended up creating history as the first black man who went to Macy’s with a gender neutral line,” he recalls.
But despite this “night success” Renaud says that at the identical time he was not taken seriously and put in a “black box”. “When you create a box of products and you are the face of a box of products and CEO and founder, you start to feel like a box of products,” he says. “I think it was a challenge for me and learning where to put my ego.”
Now he gets as much as regain his identity. “The decision to leave was more personal than business,” he says, lacking a dream of being an actor. “I haven’t been really present many times and I really wanted happiness and peace in my life. I worked really hard for 5-6 years and I always had a starting plan.”
Although it lies in his personal development, he calls it one of the difficult decisions in his life. “It had nothing to do with what was on paper and everything that is related to the change of my heart,” he says, devoting more time to construct life outside the skincare line. “[I had to] Remember that buttah comes from Dorion Renauda, Dorion Renaud does not come from buttah, “he says.” Sometimes your ceiling will become your floor. “
Using his community as a pillow, Renaud says that he’s most enthusiastic about continuing his acting profession and a brand new brand that can appear next yr. “It will be something that melanated people need. He solves the problem we have been dealing with for a long time,” he points out. “When you get out of faith, it can be terrifying. But when you do this, there is something on the other side.”
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