AceShowbiz -

Raven-Symone has come to Rodner Figueroa's defense after he was fired by Univision for suggesting that Michelle Obama looked like the cast from "Planet of the Apes". She defends the newly-sacked host when co-hosting "The View".

"Was he saying it racist-like?" Symone asked, before sharing her thoughts on the matter, "Because he said that he voted for her later, and I don't think he was saying it racist." Co-host Rosie Perez argued, "That's like saying, 'I'm not a racist, but I have black friends."

Guest host Michelle Collins joined the debate, "My thing is, I think he's a gay guy. He is a comedian, according to him, and he is biracial himself. I have a feeling he said it without even thinking. I think he should be fired for stupidity. If you're too stupid to realize that that's offensive, you should not be on TV."

Again, Perez disagreed. "That's disrespect," she said. "This is a problem in the Latin community, that we do not talk about that. We do not address it, and it is real and it was revealed by this man's statement. And you do not disrespect the first lady of our country."

Symone then said, "Michelle, don't fire me right now, but some people look like animals." She jokingly added, "I look like a bird. Can I be mad if somebody calls me Toucan Sam?"

During a previous discussion about racism and the N-word moderated by Whoopi Goldberg during the show, the "Empire" actress said, "We don't look at it as racism as the way your generation did." She claimed people of her generation were "trying to move forward." "It's the same as the word B-I-T-C-H," she added. "I love bitch."