Countess Vaughn says fatphobic jokes on The Parkers and Moesha, along with constant comparisons to her white co-star, led her to get butt injections.
Known to many for her portrayal of Kim Parker on Moesha and its spinoff, The Parkers, the actress and singer is opening up with her struggles with body image.
During a conversation with 'Family Matters' actress Cherie Johnson, who also appeared on 'The Parkers, Vaughnn got candid about her time on the show.
“They used to clown me on the show,” Vaughn said. If audiences recall, the character of Kim Parker was often on the receiving end of fatphobic jokes on both Moesha and The Parkers.
“They’d be like, ‘You’re a Black girl and Jenna von Oÿ’s butt is bigger than yours and she’s a white girl,” Parker said, referencing her The Parkers co-star.
Vaughn went on to discuss how racial stereotypes informed most of the jokes.
“Because I’m a Black girl and I’m supposed to have a big butt, you know, you fall into these stereotypes,” she said. “You feel like, ‘I’m supposed to have this.’ And then you’d see all the attention she would get for having it. They would lose their minds. I’m like ‘a** is everything. And I get mad at myself because I was a lot smaller when I was on Moesha and they made me the fat kid. The jokes. Even the first episode… the line was, ‘Oh, it’s baby fat,’ and whats-her-name goes, ‘No, it’s fat, baby.’”
Vaughn says all of this took a number on her self-esteem and led her to get butt injections.
