As we covered yesterday, Paula Deen’s deposition in a civil case is full of crazy gems of crazy. Paula and her brother Bubba are being sued by a former employee claiming (rightfully, it seems) that Paula and Bubba created a hostile work environment. Paula and Bubba are accused of telling racist jokes, using the n-word, saying offensive things about Pres. Obama, and dressing up their black employees as Antebellum slave-servers. Bubba is also accused of some sexist stuff, like viewing p0rn at work and such. I covered some of the stuff yesterday, but if you’d like a better look at some deposition transcript highlights, I would suggest you go read this NPR piece, which is kind of amazing.
Well, Paula was pre-scheduled to make an appearance on this morning’s Today Show. She flew into NYC (from Georgia) and then… she canceled her appearance. And the Today Show people are calling her out:
Days after it was revealed that she admitted to using the N-word in the past, Paula Deen canceled at the last minute a live TV interview with Today’s Matt Lauer.
The southern cook, 66, had been scheduled to appear on Friday’s broadcast to discuss her admission under oath in a deposition for a discrimination lawsuit that she has used racial epithets.
But, according to Lauer, Deen’s rep contacted the show moments before she was set to appear live and told producers that she is “exhausted” after flying into New York overnight and would not be showing up at the studio.
“We had planned to have an exclusive live interview with Paula Deen this morning,” Lauer announced on-air Friday. “We spoke several times with her people yesterday and then I spoke with Paula yesterday afternoon. We arranged an interview this morning. We agreed there would be no restrictions to that interview only that it would be an open and candid exchange.”
“We started to hear from her people that she is exhausted. She has not called us at all,” Lauer continued. “Her publicity person and I spoke a little while ago. Simply said they believe she is in the hotel but she has not confirmed anything other than she is not here.”
“Paula is beside herself,” a source close to Deen told PEOPLE earlier this week. “This is killing her. She’s so beaten down by this.”
Although she hasn’t apologized, Paula Deen Enterprises released a statement on Thursday explaining Deen’s use of racial slurs. “During a deposition where she swore to tell the truth, Ms. Deen recounted having used a racial epithet in the past, speaking largely about a time in American history which was quite different than today,” the statement reads. “To be clear Ms. Deen does not find acceptable the use of this term under any circumstance by anyone nor condone any form of racism or discrimination.”
But now all eyes are on Deen to address the issue publicly.
“We would consider her a friend,” Today’s Al Roker said after learning Deen pulled out of her appearance. “We would hope that she’ll reconsider because she really needs to address this.”
To be clear, during the deposition, Paula replied “yes, of course” to the question about using the n-word, and then she added: “It’s been a very long time. But that’s just not a word that we use as time has gone on, things have changed since the ’60s in the South. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do…Bubba and I, neither one of us, care what the color of your skin is… It’s what’s in your heart and in your head that matters to us.”
As I said yesterday, I can’t defend her anymore and I can’t be a Paula apologist anymore. But I will say that it was better for her to be honest and admit that she used the n-word in her deposition and try to couch it in an explanation… as opposed to blatantly lying about it. I think it would be smarter for her to actually sit down and do some big interviews where she really tried to explain herself. If it’s a matter of “the 1950s and 1960s were a different time in America,” that’s certainly one explanation. But if she has a current history of saying racist, sexist, ridiculous things, then just come out and do full disclosure, explain yourself, tell your story and apologize profusely.
UPDATE: Okay, Paula released a video apology and it is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen. Why is it so edited? For the love of…
Photos courtesy of WENN.
She’s always been an embarrassment to Southern women. Her recent actions support this.
And look at those eyes… Cray-cray!
I came here to say the same thing. She looks positively insane in all of those photos.
Paula Demonic
she is an embarrassment to human beings everywhere.
and she DOES have a case of the crazy eyes.
Her attitude towards people is disgusting. She should be embarrassed, ashamed and called out. I will never support her or her business, ever. Her slurs are unforgivable, and I will never support bigotry of any kind.
An embarrassment? Hardly!
.
If Paula were black and used the N WORD, none of us would be having this conversation!!! I don’t condone what she said, but get off her azz. When the blacks STOP using the word, maybe everyone else will. You can’t have it both ways!!!
@Eli…. “The Blacks”??????
Way to show your thinking 😉
@Eli
Most black PEOPLE do not use the N word.
Just because you hear a bunch of (C)rappers use it, doesn’t mean every damn black person does! Get out of your house and actually get to know black people and see and HEAR for yourself.
That is funny.
I’ll be your Butter Woman, but I’m not cray-cray! 😉
Ina Garten is my butter lady :). Love her and her cooking.
Paula Peen is one of the best weeks ever! Can’t believe she’s so dumb at 66. She said she used the N word to describe a conversation two black people had with each other.
Which basically means she said, “so these N words were talking and I was like OMG what are these N words talking about.
Paula Deen fired by Food Network over use of racial epithet – the N-word — and other racially charged comments.
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/dailydish/la-dd-paula-deen-fired-by-food-network-over-use-of-the-nword-20130621,0,4095007.story
Great news!!!
There’s really no excuse she can come up with and she knows it. My parents have lived all their life in the very southern state of South Carolina and they are in their 70’s and I’ve never heard them use that kind of language or say anything that would be considered “racist” Quite the opposite, they raised us to respect everybody. So the whole “it was a different time” thing doesn’t fly with me.
I agree, there is no excuse. I think a big point is being lost in the blogosphere discussions:
She said these things as an employer in front of her employees.
There are responsibilities you have when you employ people, and she would not be getting sued if she had kept the questionable talk at home because that wouldn’t be breaking a law.
That is a good point that I really hadn’t thought of, and if she feels comfortable saying those things in front of people, imagine what she says in private!
Yup.
There is no justification. Explanation is not required, Miss Paula.
No one wants a litany of why it’s okay…because it’s not.
–very much agree–
My grandma is 87 and straight up depression era Alabama all the way. She uses racial slurs like, forgive me, “colored”. But the way she grew up was so different. she has friends and neighbors of every race and treats them all with respect but uses this one word, sparingly and only in front of family. she uses the term as a form of differentiating the people in her stories. It’s not right but it ain’t changing. In addition, I have family “of a certain age” in Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and other than this one word I only have one racist uncle who uses terms like “towel heads” when describing who we’re fighting “over there”. Us younger ones in the family never use terms like this. I have never heard anyone in my family use the N word. And no one from my family is on national syndication (unless there’s an episode of Cops I don’t know about). She should have addressed this herself much earlier. Now is time to apologize.
Canceling last minute looks so so bad.
What I noticed first in the press release was Paula saying they don’t use the word to be mean or cruel…not hey…it never comes up in jokes we tell or gets insinuated. She also never mentions after knowing better asking others to not use those terms. Obviously it seems acceptable in her family.
Yea i think anyone who uses slurs or such in the privacy of their own home doesn’t get a pass for a “certain era” or whatever. If you can control your mouth in public then you can control it in private. No excuse
Unless the “certain era” is the pre-Civil war south, she does not get a pass.
I live in Texas and my father in law (around Paula’s) age said he heard men on the golf course calling Nike golf balls (endorsed by tiger woods at the time) “N-word balls”.
It’s hard to believe that closet racist exists and find it ok to use these words behind closed doors, so to speak
By no means do I think its right, but admittedly I give my grandma a pass because shes 87, grew up very rural, has never had an education and is completely home bound (hence why its never in public). She knows how I feel and that its wrong. It’s a long time of conditioning and what little time I have left with her, I’d prefer to not argue.
Paula is 20 yrs younger. She was 18 in 1965 and she’s educated. The language she used was far more harsh and she’s a public figure, the head of several businesses and brands. I mean when Oprah talked about being promiscuous and doing coke, she did it on her terms and everyone accepted these horrible things because they know that was her circumstance, not who she is. Paula should have talked about this much much sooner.
I have an elderly South Carolina great aunt who also uses the term “colored.” In her defense (and your grandmother’s) in their time, “colored” was the polite, progressive term. The awful “N” word is something else. To my ear, “colored”, especially when used by older generation southerners, is more outdated than it is derogatory. Everyone from Frederick Douglass to MLK used “colored.”
As for Paula, ugh. She’s not pulling the wool over anyones eyes. Good riddance, I say.
@Chicagogurl. I don’t think Paula would have talked about this sooner because I’m sure she didn’t think there was anything to talk about. Her bigotry seems so ingrained, which speaks volumes about her overall ignorance. She’s as crappy as her food.
I grew up in Ireland in the late 70’s/80’s. everyone was white in my town. One day when I was about 8 we were watching a film about Africa, when one of the kids mentioned the “n” word. The teacher quickly pulled him up on it and said that was very rude and that the correct word was “coloured”. It was only until my teens and much to my embarrassment did I find out how offensive the word “coloured” was.
@chicagogurl
I just realized that my comment seems like it was directed toward your Grandma…
So sorry!!! I was just referring to Paula Deen 🙂
You don’t get a pass for a certain era, but if someone has changed their tune and stopped, then I think they deserve credit for changing. If she really did say it in the 60’s and admitted it but doesn’t do it any more- I really wouldn’t have a problem with that. That isn’t what she is being accused of. It is today, and it is worse to do it in a business setting. Not only are you a racist, but you are hurting someone else’s livelihood. So you are a racist with power, much worse.
As far as “colored” and this has bugged me for a while -someone needs to tell the NAACP. (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People- for those who didn’t know) Now I did hear Ben Jealous the head at one time say they kept it because they advance all people of color. Still don’t like the connotation.
As a black woman, this entire situation has been very disheartening. I know she was wrong but I don’t want to vilify her nor revel in her demise. It’s a sad realization that what she built will most likely be overshadowed by her downfall. And while I could possibly buy into the “I wasn’t aware of the negative connotation” syndrome, depending on the circumstances, this would not be one of those instances.
I’m inclined to believe that the issue of ‘racism’ and or the inappropriate use of racial slurs and jokes had been brought to Paula Deen’s attention. Yet, for whatever reason, the racial slurs and jokes continued; never being adequately addressed.
I have NO DOUBT that Lisa Jackson struggled with her decision to come forward; KUDOS to her!
Chicagogurl, your grandmother is A-OK with me:-)
Mary, I can only imagine what that embarrassing moment must have felt like and I hope those around you at that moment did not berate you but instead realized that you DID NOT grasp the negative connotation associated with the term “colored.”
I must say, I LOVE the civil dialogue with one another on this blog. It’s been open, honest and respectful; which can be hard to come by when discussing racism.
My parents are both from Alabama and older than Paula D. I have never heard either one of them use that word, or my grandparents, either for that matter. It was considered an ugly curse word and we would have been punished severely for saying it. I am so disappointed in PD, not that I was a huge fan or anything, but I thought she was nice and admired her for pulling herself out of poverty. What bothers me the most now is that she doesn’t even get it, she’s trying to say she didn’t say it in a “mean way”. Ugh. I think her career is over. There’s no way she can come back from this.
Thanks for confirming what I’ve always believed. You’re either raised well or not.
I’m 36, and was born and raised in Mississippi. I have NEVER heard my parents say the N- word. It is akin to a 4 letter word. I just want to thank Paula for helping to keep the Southern stereotypes of being ignorant racists alive.
I generally only lurk for my celeb gossip fix, but had to add my 2 cents as a lifelong SC resident, whether anyone reads it or not.
To sum it quickly it makes me sad that people think and speak in hateful ways like Paula, and even more sad to have her behavior attributed to the “South” by either herself or others that assume this is the way of the region. I remember being shocked the first time I heard the “N” word – at the dinner table of a college boyfriend’s family (when I was 20 years old). Great first impression. They were wealthy, educated and should have known better – but if anyone reads this I would like to leave the note that poor behavior is in my experience not a result of region, background or social class but of character…it stinks to have an ignorant person like this excuse away her behavior as the “South.” Granted I am not from the sticks, but most southerners don’t sound or think like backwards hillbillies, and could blend in all over the nation without pause. It’s a cop out, and not even a good one. I’d stop supporting Paula, but I never liked her much anyway (:
I grew up in the south (TX) and my grandparents, a product of the depression era and of high society in TX used “racial” slurs all the time. It is just how that generation talked. I was used to it growing up.
Now, im not excusing it at all…just saying that just because you didn’t encounter it doesn’t mean it is prevailant in a certain demographic of society. With that said, I find it ridiculous that there is such hypocrisy in this world, that it is okay for say the “n” word to be used in the black community, but not by anyone else. Cant have it both ways.
“I find it ridiculous that there is such hypocrisy in this world, that it is okay for say the “n” word to be used in the black community, but not by anyone else. Cant have it both ways.”
What you said is a pile of crap.
Silly girl, The ‘black community’ does not accept or condone it and just because a few idiots use it doesn’t make them OR YOU our spokesperson! We’re not talking about what happens in the black community as a mean to make this acceptable, which is what it seems like you’re doing. Racist apologist always play that card and it’s obvious you don’t know black people or you’d know that we don’t care how many thug rappers or wannabes use it, we don’t accept it! I ws wondering when some idiot would try to play that card, thank you. You didn’t disappoint. Here’s how to NOT be “confused.” Don’t say it!
Minority groups reclaim slurs and use them positively within their group to destroy the oppressive power those words once had on them. This is not a phenomenon unique to any racial group, the LGBT community has done something similar with the word “queer.” That reclaimed use of language is absolutley not the same thing as someone from the traditionally privileged or oppressive group using the same word to describe a minority person.
So, no, there’s really no hypocrisy here.
Rappers or Street Culture DOES NOT EQUAL the Black community
The N-word is a terrible, awful word, even worse when people think it’s condoned by ALL blacks!! It’s not!
@Meanchick, she’s not the only one playing that card in this thread, not by a mile.
The argument of hypocrisy should be irrelevant. Who cares if only a small section of the “black community” uses a word or if everyone did…does that make you want to use it? It’s not like the word in question is “brick;” clearly there’s a negative history at issue here. Weird. If you have to ask whether something is offensive to a gigantic segment of society, the answer is yes…
It’s not ok in the black community and just because a few may use it for whatever reason doesn’t condone it. People who use this line if reasining are usually the same people who luke to use this word. You either “rise above your raising” and leave the bigotry behind or own what you are.
Paula Peen is from a different time alright. A time when humanity was fighting to be more conscious. When hippies were protesting unjust wars and Civil Rights Leaders were marching for equality. A time when Johnson was signing the Voting Rights Act and Martin was having a Dream. A time when blacks even children were being water hosed down and when decent whites marched by their sides for justice. And during this time, that Paula is from, she was savoring her favorite N word in her mouth like a delicious stick of butter.
Like Martin, Paula was dreaming too but about the good ol’ days when blacks were lynched from trees and forced to do free labor. But Paula’s biggest dream is for the South to “rise” again like Bubba’s Peen when he showed his pork to the staff.
I just wanted to say thank you. You have summed up perfectly how I feel about this.
Paula Deen isn’t from the Anti-bellum South. She is a modern person, living in the modern world. Apparently, she wishes she was Lady of the Plantation, but it’s 2013. She isn’t new.
I wish there was a love button for this comment. Perfectly stated.
As for that tired ol argument that the N-word is used the black community so everybody should be free to use it…please feel free to kiss the fattest part of my ass.
Exactly.
I’m so disappointed in her and also disgusted. I had actually enjoyed her before but I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to racism. My parents are also in their 70’s and never used that kind of language E-V-E-R. I never heard my grandparents say that either!!! It’s inexcusable and unacceptable. I’m glad she’s not lying about it but there is no excuse.
Somewhere Anthony Bourdain is laughing his a– off.
😀 LOL!
And there goes that lucrative diabetes medicine contract, too.
He’s an ass, too.
He sure is, but I hope he is enjoying this anyhow. Paula deserves it.
When you screw up on that kind of level and your own words are what got you into trouble, you can’t have a spokesperson release a statement on your behalf. You need to actually say some words yourself, either of explanation or apology (or both).
Basically what I’m saying is: Paula Deen, you’re doing it wrong.
I wish she lost everything and that she was done after this. I hope she loses whatever TV deals, endorsements, etc she has lined up. She can now retire early and vanish, for all I care. I just hope she sees a form of true backlash after this because if not, it means there’s still a lof of people like her.
well put. that is exactly my hope.
Definitely! I love the Food Network, but if they don’t can her ass after this, I’ll be seriously upset. From what I’ve seen of Bob and Susie on Food Network Star, it doesn’t seem like they’d put up with racists, so fingers crossed!
I wrote to them yesterday and told them I am not watching until they remove every one of her shows.
Everyone should write and make their opinions known.
@The Original Tiffany: Ooooh, I’ll do that! I remember seeing the link in yesterday’s comment thread; I’ll find it and shoot Food Network an e-mail. I mean, I hope Food Network execs would decide to dump her even without viewer outrage, but another e-mail can’t hurt!
I’m sure all the folks at Fox “News” will be more than happy to take her, if the Food Network fires her. In fact, I’m sure she will become their victim of the month. Right now Hannity and the rest of them are getting ready to portray her as the poor, White woman who is being unfairly treated by the so called liberal media. I bet $100 her first public interview is with Fox. Any takers?
Agreed, I have written them too.
I used the link yesterday too. I find racism despicable in anyone, and absolutely refuse to support it in any way.
Paula Deen blew it for me last year at this time when all the diabetes mock confessions came out perfectly timed to her Rx endorsement deal, as well as her shilling anything that will pay her a buck.
It will be interesting to see how Food Network handles this. Persons of colour do well on all those competitive shows (even without those cute Antebellum suits!) but I can’t think of many black faces on their roster … the occasional judge perhaps, but other than that? I wonder how they could have maintained a working relationship with her without knowing of her opinions and quite frankly, I wonder if they don’t somehow on some levels agree with them.
I love Food Network, but her show is never on when I watch and I never made the effort to find it (I don’t really need to learn how to make food taste good with extra butter and sugar — anyone can do that.) I think her show is done for. It’s like getting a behind the scenes look at a dirty kitchen. No one wants to eat the food coming out of that place, no matter how good it looks.
@MeThree, I smell a Fox cooking show in the works! Or at least a regular segment on Fox and Friends. If they can deny global warming, I’m sure they can deny the effects of butter. 😉
FOOD NETWORK just cut all ties with Deen. I feel vindicated! Letters do work. Deen ruined herself and I am so HAPPY!
I wonder if this includes the cancellation of Bobby’s “not my mommas meals”. He actually seems like a descent dude. Would suck if his mom pulled him down with her but the whole show format would have to change.
Same. If she was a black athlete who made white or Jewish digs she would have lost all her smithville money and her shows/syndication with food network and cooking channel would fire her or suspend her under their morality contract clauses.
Hang on. Something about this strikes me as fishy. I smell con artist and sheeny lawyer tricks.
Paula has been in the public eye for decades. I have never never never heard this accusation leveled before.
If there were really something to hide why did she not settle? She is not stupid. Her legal team is not stupid.
Did anyone even know that Paula was being sued until the deposition transcripts were released??
Who is this accuser? How long has she worked for Paula’s companies? What is her background?
I want more info on this. Because this could be someone that wanted to sue to make a quick buck and wanted to settle.
If there were some sort of behavior to hide she would have settled.
And quite frankly reading her answers in the deposition it seems like she is being very honest.
If I had to guess I think there is a grifter trying to make some easy cash with a lawsuit that has no merit. And they were hoping for a settlement. And when they didn’t get a settlement they released deposition transcripts to the press hoping to embarrass Paula into a settlement.
I will be keeping an eye on this one.
Ok: nothing you are saying makes sense. Regardless whether the lawsuit has merit (and it sure seems like it does), the deposition transcript shows that Paul Deen herself, while under oath, admitted to using the n-word on multiple occasions and to talking about her ideal wedding set-up being a Civil War-era theme with all black waiters like slaves. Even if you want to spin conspiracy theories about the lawsuit, it does nothing to negate the fact that Paula Deen admitted that she is racist and says racist things.
@ Ok
“Hang on. Something about this strikes me as fishy. I smell con artist and sheeny lawyer tricks.”
Unbelievable. Are you really not aware that “sheeny” is an offensive term aimed at Jewish people?
No kidding!
Leave it to one racist to stick up for another.
smh
@ ok
I addressed some of your concerns in a comment below. The suit was filed last year and yes, people did know about it. Quite a lot of people. This didn’t get interesting to the national media until her deposition answers were exposed. Hardly anything fishy about that.
Plus, being a whistle-blower takes a considerable amount of risk and effort. Lisa Jackson would have a great deal to lose personally if her allegations were unfounded.
@ Kate
OMG! I had never heard that word before so glossed over it. Have just looked it up and am totally appalled!
@OK, WTF is wrong with you?
Does she look terrified in both videos or is that just her normal expression? (Honest question.) It makes me wonder how well she invested and how much was frittered away (in a wishful thinking sort of way).
Apologize already Paula. Grits,cornbread and butter aren’t going to get you out of this one.
Sad, well pathetic really, thing is I honestly think she doesn’t see anything wrong with what she and her brother did.
I read her deposition, and the way she refers to “black people” is disgusting. Her racism is glaringly apparent even when she tries to hide it. Her statement about “the black race” made me gag.
News flash you butter-soaked bigoted bimbo we are ALL one race and if you go back far enough in your genetic family tree you too (just like all of us) are African.
i can’t believe lauer called someone out on something. haha. good.
Matt vs Paula: Battle of the D-List CelebriDouches!
LOL, @Mrs. Peacock!
Paula was afraid to go on The Today Show and is a coward on top of being a disgusting racist.
It looks like Paula can’t stand the heat and got out of the kitchen!
@ag
I know, right?
Someone on her PR team probably had enough sense to realize her honest answers would get her eaten alive on national television…I don’t know why I have been so fascinated with the downfall of Paula, but it certainly seems justified. America can survive without recipes for fried doughnut bread rolls made of 9 sticks of butter, molasses and lard.
Wonder how Al Roker responds to this??
Kaiser, I’m with you. I’m afraid I can’t with her any more.
The whole “it was a different time” thing is a lazy excuse because there are plenty of Southerners who grew up in that time who don’t use or condone the use of that word.
She is admitting that she used the phrase but has not in a very long time because it is not right.
And I hate to break it to you but those WERE the 1960s in the south. Segregation and separate but equal. Do you not know history?
There were a lot of vicious violent things that occurred on the South that happened to change the attitudes of today.
Is she said that she never ever said those words I would have thought she was lying.
OK:
I’m not prepared to do your research for you, but if you are “keeping your eye on this one”, you should already know that news of this lawsuit came out during Paula’s bad summer. Paula’s deposition is her response to her accuser.
You should read it. What is being lost in the n-word scandal (a word she used in 1984, which is hardly the old days) is that in Paula’s deposition she seems to be ok with the fact that her brother watched porn in an office that he shared with the female litigant, and that she knew that her brother also harassed young female staff members (who Paula called P*ssies). I suppose since she is a female, it is ok to use such a word for other females? That as a product of the old south, it is ok for her to make a distinction btn ladies and bad girls, and to blame the bad girls when men like Bubba make their lives a living hell? I would be interested in knowing whether older southern females who lick male chefs on television or do rude things to eclairs are “ladies” or “p*ssies”.
No kidding: she angers me, and I am losing patience with her apologists.
@badrockandroll
Ok is more than just an apologist, she uses racial epithets herself. See her remark under No. 5, at 1:38 p.m.
Ok’s own words reveal her racism.
Hi Grabby, I am one of those southerners you referred to. Never used that hateful word, and if I had, my grandmother who raised her own children and some of her grandchildren, would have washed our mouths out with soap. Disrepect for other people or groups of people would not have been tolerated. Paula Deen claiming her statements were just part of that culture are unacceptable to me and to people of honor who did not resort to epithets. To use that as an excuse for using the word just shows her ignorance and low class upbringing.
Except it wasn’t the 50’s or 60’s, it was 1986!
EXACTLY!
go eat a stick of butter Deen.
See what happens when you give just anybody 15 mins…
How many teeth did they put in that pig’s mouth? All I see is teeth and crazy eyes.
Those teeth are so blindingly white and fake. They are so distracting.
This woman sounds like a true blue racist. She actually thinks you can use the n word without being mean or cruel.
Apologize for your insensitive remarks, settle out of court and STFU!
Exactly!
I sat here at my keyboard for a long time reading the post from yesterday (I was too sick to reply) and this one and…
I’m not surprised. I’m really not.
The idea of Antebellum South is a false one. There was never -ever- a chance the South could’ve won the war and yet talk to people down here and it’s, “If Stonewall hadn’t been shot by dem damn Yanks…” or “If Sherman would’ve offed himself like he was supposed to…” It’s a time and a bygone era much like the “Leave It To Beaver” style “real” America that people are so apt to defend.
To idolize and hold up as some shinning example a period of time that lead to the suffering, rending, and almost outright cultural destruction of a people offends me as a historian, a woman, as a black person. I’m not some super afro-centric and just found out I’m carrying my first child who will be bi-racial (black and white) but unwelcome in both of our families but to say I’m offended by her entire corporal existence and what she stands for is not a stretch.
Monica, I want to say congratulations to you on the new baby!
What matters most is that you and the father love the baby (you didn’t mention, but I’ll go ahead and hope he’s NOT on the “unwelcome” side).
My children are biracial and I can’t imagine that someone would say a baby is “unwelcome” because of what the parents look like!
Congratulations on your pregnancy.
I am hoping family attitudes change. They often do when a baby is involved.
MonicaQ, congrats on your new blessing It is a shame that in this era people still think backwards. I completely understand how you feel, in my case it wasnt the race, it was religion. both families were adamant they would not approve/give blessing but the moment my son was born, both set of grandparents melted and nothing matters anymore. Here is to hoping for smooth future to you!
Well said, MonicaQ! Historical revisionism gets right under my skin. I’ve heard too many older southerners revel in past glories that never really were.
Bless you and the baby. My niece is biracial – also black and white. A few family members were less than enthused initially but they came right around soon enough. I hope yours will as well. There’s something special about biracial kids, I think. There’s a certain magic there, a true beauty. Good luck to you.
“There’s something special about biracial kids, I think. There’s a certain magic there, a true beauty.”
I’m sure you didn’t mean any harm, but it’s important that we don’t place any race or combination of races above others. Especially when children are the subject.
Monica, I am the mother of two ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS multi-ethnic (black, Indian, and white; and black and white) children, and if your mutual families are loving, they will ADORE your child!
And CONGRATULATIONS! I wish you a healthy and easy pregnancy.
As a mother of two multi-ethnic children, I’m offended by PD’s speech. (And even if I WASN’T a mother to two multi-ethnic children, I’d be offended. I wasn’t raised that way.)
MonicaQ, I was raised by 2 of the most racist people ever. First Nation people were their favourite target for years. Fast forward 25 years and 4 of their 6 grandchildren are native. They loved them all, and I got to witness Karma in action. (I still laugh about the fact 2/3 of their grandchildren are native)
It must not be that different of a time because didn’t Jay Z put out Niggas in Paris a year ago? If it’s not ok it’s not ok. Period. And don’t even go there with oh he’s trying to take away the power by using it blah blah. Either it’s ok or it’s not. And it’s not.
Joy — you are correct.
But there is still something that bothers me about this. I hope is goes to court and not get settled. I would like to hear both sides of this.
Where is the transcript of Paula’s lawyers deposing the plaintiff?? I want to hear about this woman.
I agree. I caught my daughter saying it and her excuse was that her black friends say it all the time. I don’t understand this. Let the word die. Period.
How about just not giving the word power anymore? Keep getting offended at this word, and you keep giving it power.
Joy–
Jay-Z doesn’t speak for me, as I posted earlier rap/street culture does not equal all of black culture. This is a horrible assumption and a completely illogical stereotype to think that all black people condone this word when one very prominent, very stylized, very specific person uses it!
Does it shock you to know that I’m black and I HATE RAP! People expect me to like it all the time based upon the amount of melanin in my skin. I don’t, and we’re not all some large amoeba, borg-like thinking culture.
Goodbye Paula.
When I heard about this story, I was so confused about what happened and felt a little sorry for Paula because I thought someone was hashing up words she said in the past, when she was a shut-in southern housewife with no exposure to the outside world and all she knew was to be a racist asshole. But hearing that some of this stuff happened recently and that she still jokes around with racial slurs, AND the weird excuses she tried to come up with for her behavior, I am just ready for her to throw in the towel and GTFO. She’s stupid, has no tact, and through all of her travels and experiences hasn’t decided to be a better and more compassionate person and leave the race jokes to the yahoos. There was an opportunity for her to really grow as a person along with her bank account. Clearly she did not.
“She’s stupid, has no tact, and through all of her travels and experiences hasn’t decided to be a better and more compassionate person…”
This. You nailed it. I really hope her 15 minutes are up, she doesn’t deserve them.
Wonder why this went all the way to court? Did anyone try to settle prior? I agree, her career is over… And it should be..
It didn’t go all the way to court. This is just the deposition portion.
I think the plaintiff is trying to force a settlement. Because if they didn’t release the transcript deliberately to the press no one would have noticed there was a case.
This is the same bs as when she came out as diabetic and shilled the pharmaceuticals. you sure cant buy class
Spot on.
Agree! I am not a fan of her food in the first place but she really had me the moment she is shilling the diabetic med endorsement. She is an opportunist and a hypocrite to the ninth degree. It’s like, “Here take the medicine and keep on eating my fatty, sugary-laden food!”. She truly disgusts me!
It’s not that fact that she admitted to saying the word. It was her “of course” comment that has left her in the hot set. If she would have just said, “yes” people would have been able to accept her answer better.
Spot on. The fact that she said ‘of course’ implies that she thinks that all people have said it at one time or another, and that is just NOT TRUE. She disgusts me. I’m sorry I ever liked her.
Exactly this. I grew up in Arkansas in the 70s and 80s. I’m white, just because it seems pertinent to this discussion.
Lots of people used that word when I was a kid, but everyone knew it was a bad, ugly thing to say, and I was forbidden to use it; my parents did not use it, and I have never used it except in literature class discussions of the term and its political and cultural implications. It’s a hateful term, and even people in the 1960s knew it was a hateful word.
It is not an excuse to say that it was a different time, but for those who grew up along with the rest of the country and CHANGED their thinking and their ways, it is an explanation of how they used to be different but learned better. That’s not what’s happening here. “Of course” is very telling because I grew up down South, too, and I did not use that word. My family did not use that word. We would’ve gotten our butts beat and our mouths washed out had we used that word. There’s no “of course” to it.
When Paula began on the food network she was something of a novelty, with the southern comfort cooking. She was at the right time and the right place. We only see the TV personality and that is it, Mrs Perky. I think now we are seeing what she is really like.
It’s interesting that she says the “1950s and 1960s were a different time in America” but wasn’t the time she admitted to using that word 1986?
She’d better remember her lies before she starts issuing statements. Gross woman.
We are from Alabama and my father talks about how his parents used the n-word in the 60s. It was just more acceptable then. They never used it when I knew them however, because things HAVE changed. They were both good people and my father even had black friends who would spend the night at his house, so they most certainly did not hate balck people. My grandfather was a lawyer and often respresented black people. The word was used more then and honestly some of my friends still use it in conversation today, which DISGUSTS me, but it’s Alabama. Black people use it here, white people use it here, it’s just something that happens. But these are young people and they don’t use it in serious conversation or around polite company. My grandparents were of a different time and I don’t judge them for it. My great grandfather however who was living with my grandparents at the time told my dad he didn’t want any of my father’s black friends coming over to the house, my grandfather then told my great grandfather that it was his house and any friend of my dads was welcome to stay. There’s no excuse for that behavior of my great grandfather and I think at this time actions spoke louder than a word. So I believe Paula when she says she that she doesn’t believe someone’s worth comes from their skin. And I do believe that it was more common at the time because I’ve heard my dad talk about it often.
It was 1986 in the example she used.
But wasn’t she being robbed at gunpoint at that time? In that example? Pretty severe circumstances
So because she was being robbed the only word she could think or to describe the guy was the n word?!! And that’s cool with u? Methinks a closet racist lies in ur heart @ok there a million words to decsribe a robber but why does that have to be one of them?
@Domestic_diva
Ok isn’t even a closet racist. She uses a racial epithet in a response under No. 5, upthread.
@ok, I called you a racist upthread and now you have just cemented it. Disgusting.
Paula has now released two video apologies and stating that I am unimpressed is just scratching the surface.
I still can’t believe people are only focused on vile words re this story.
IT IS ALLEGED THAT THEY MADE BLACK EMPLOYEES USE SEPARATE BATHROOMS AND ENTRANCES.
This is illegal and disgusting Woolworth’s lunch counter and Rosa Parks territory. Active racist segregation.
You’re right. She’s vile in other ways, as well.
I’ve seen the video of her performing a sex act on an eclair. There’s so much more, but I won’t go into it. Everyone has the same ability to Google.
I know Mich!
People keep going on about what she said, which is horrible, but she was segregating!
Totally against the law
People need to quit arguing about the word and focus on this part, because there is no argument for it.
I just can’t fathom that someone in the public eye would do something like this.
To me that says the racism in her is so deep, that she is just vile.
I didn’t know that part. Not that I could be any more disgusted, but Paula has some serious issues. Her best bet is to slink away and never be seen/heard from again.
I agree. I don’t want to see her anywhere. Today Show or anywhere.
Yeah, exactly.
Illegal and immoral.
Add to it the whole “we considered asking our African American employees to dress up as SLAVES” and the story becomes utterly vile.
What she said, or what she admitted to saying, is actually small potatoes in the scheme of things. Bad as it is.
Mich, Can you provide a link to that information? I haven’t heard that nor have I read it in the deposition so far.
Google “paula deen” “separate bathrooms” and you will find hundreds of links about the allegation of having separate facilities for black and white employees.
I read it on TPM (Talking Points Memo) yesterday. I trust them as a source 100%.
Here is the link to the deposition. I found it on SCRIBD
http://www.scribd.com/doc/148832518/Paula-Deen-Deposition-Testimony
Mich,
I notice yesterday you mention the separate entrance and bathrooms. I was like…No Way… Then I just saw this comment so I found the Deposition and read it. I am speechless. The use of the “n-word” is likely the mildest behavior of all the sick/vile behavior of Ms. Dean and her brother. I would think the the civil rights of these workers were violated. I felt like I was reading some Jim Crow shit. I felt violated.
I know exactly how you feel. I’m white but my five adopted children are black. I get so livid when I hear people writing off this kind of behavior with statements like ‘oh, she is 66’ and ‘at least she was honest’. My babies (most are grown now 🙁 ) are wonderful, intelligent, kind and fantastic HUMAN BEINGS and this b*tch and her useless family make me bone-deep sick.
I know, Mich, and I agree.
My darling departed grandpa, born in 1913, taught me to never judge a person by their color, to treat everyone the same, and that using any type of racial slur was unacceptable.
He was a white man from Belzoni, MS, who emigrated from the south to Detroit just before the worst race riots that city has ever seen (the ones in the forties, not the sixties).
So if my grandpa could rise above racism, coming from where he did and seeing what he saw, I think Paula Deen should have been able repress her use of the n word and not indulged in fantasies about casting her Black employees as slaves.
Mich — someone is accusing. This is only the deposition.
Maybe I am way off base on this. But if she had behavior to hide she would have settled.
They are bringing this to court. And maybe those accusations will not hold up in court
I read your post above where you absolve Paula and point to her accuser as a likely grifter. Her deposition speaks for itself. In my opinion, she didn’t settle because she is a) arrogant and b) sees nothing wrong with her attitudes and behavior.
I’ve never come down against her for shilling a way of eating that she knew first hand was deadly. Most people are smart enough to know that eating butter 24/7 is a stupid choice. This, however, she gets no pass on.
FACTS: From a former employee
The part about having employees use separate entrances and restrooms- complete b.s.
I saw your post below that you worked in the same restaurant as the person bringing the charges. Was she always at that restaurant or does the suit pertain to another? Was Bubba the person in charge of the one you worked at?
I ask because the suit seems to specifically pertain to her time as a manager at Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House.
The Lady & Sons was the first restaurant. I worked there for two years and during that time, Lisa was a server there. They were planning and building Bubba’s then. Towards the end of my time, Lisa was made an assistant manager at the L&S and I assume went over to Bubba’s as GM sometime in the past few years. There wasn’t the vast amount of employees back then. Paula only had The L&S and sold her cookbooks and merchandise from there. Everyone knew everyone. And what everyone was up to, basically.
Paula and the boys ran the restaurant personally in those days. They had a GM, but were there and involved on a day to day basis. Paula only traveled to film her cooking show (it wasn’t her house in the beginning episodes- it’s Gordon Ramsey’s in New York. And the yellow lab totally wasn’t her dog.)
Then Paula got a role in Cameron Crowe’s movie, became a bigger commodity on the Food Network, and started building the house that she films her show from now. She would do cameo appearances from then on. But we always had Jamie and Bobby. And Bubba and her current husband Michael holding court on bar stools.
yay.
She denies blacks had to use separate bathrooms. Customer bathrooms were in the front of the restaurant. Paula Deen and her employees used the bathrooms in the back.
Right?! That is by far the most amazingly and openly racist thing I’ve ever heard, and everyone is more worked up about a single word (which, while loaded, just pales in comparison to thinking it is classy to dress people up as slaves.
You’re kidding yourself if you think this lady has the wherewithal to explain herself intelligently.
I’m Asian and I have a very liberal attitude toward racial humour, but it’s because I’m informed and sensitive and NOT A RACIST. Just because she isn’t a violent, hateful person, doesn’t mean she isn’t a raging racist and incredibly ignorant. When somebody like her uses the n-word and allows a racist environment to exist around her and her employees, and pretends to not know that it’s wrong, it reveals much more about a person’s character than her lame explanation ever will.
Even if she’s not lying when she says she hasn’t used the term in a long time, she has used it to describe somebody black who had (conveniently) pointed a gun to her head. That is the epitome of a racist. If you are later recounting this story to someone and go out of your way to use the n-word to describe the perpetrator, you are a racist. These are your true feelings and you proved it by using the word out loud, no matter the circumstances. It shows how you really feel about a race. What a POS she is. I’ve despised this woman from the moment I saw her Tammy Faye face on TV.
Joanna — seriously would you be able to use loving kind even tempered words when describing someone who has pointed a GUN AT YOUR HEAD???
If there were a time to use unkind slurs, that would be the time.
Do you listen to some music lyrics? Offensive terminology is woven into song and nobody is complaining about that. And it is only song. Not a bank robbery
Yes, being held up at gunpoint is an upsetting situation. But if you didn’t already think of black people using the n-word, it would never occur to you to use that word to express how upset you were after being held up by a man who just happened to be black. When someone dangerously cuts me off on the highway, I slam on the brakes and mutter “asshole”. I don’t look at their ethnicity and then use a racial slur because they just happened to be Asian or Hispanic or black. The fact that Paula Deen used the n-word when upset in NO WAY makes it better, it just reveals what she was already thinking.
Seriously, you should step back from the keyboard for a second and ask yourself why you’re so committed to defending this woman’s vile, racist behavior. You’ve been all over this comment section suggesting that the plaintiff is money-grubbing and poor Paula is just from a different era or was upset or didn’t mean anything bad. But she admits to some seriously racist behavior in her deposition — she ADMITS IT, it’s not disputed. No matter who the plaintiff is or whether the lawsuit has merit, Paula Deen is still demonstrably racist. You should really think hard about why your first reaction is to defend her.
There is a difference between using unkind words and resorting to racial slurs. When you’re in a desperate situation like that you’re not going to resort to a word you’ve never used. You’re going to come out with someone you know is derogatory, and have used.
Edit: Esti already covered this. Thanks Esti
@OK, once again you show us ALL that you are a RACIST.
If I was getting held up by gun, I would not call a person a racial slur ever. Because I am not a racist and I don’t think that way. They are completely foreign words to me because I have NEVER used them. The fact that you have already used a racial slur on your post under #5 and say here that those are the types of words you would use in that situation, that those words would be your first reaction tells me everything I need to know about you.
LOTS of people (myself included) object to the use of racial epithets in music lyrics. There shouldn’t be ANY reason that word is used…EVER.
@Esti
I suspect the reason Ok is defending Paula Deen’s racist behavior is because Ok is, herself, a racist. See her anti-Semitic remark under No. 5, upthread.
I have one of her cookbooks and it’s going in the Goodwill pile now.
Seriously, she’s probably one of those people (like my in-laws) who say there’s a difference between “black” people and “N-“…and then spend 15 minutes telling you that they have black friends, yet you never see them around…strange.
Lol my neighbor is like that I’m black and he’ll launch into telling me about crime and how our neighborhood is changing because of all the black crie theme hell say but I’m not racist so e of my best friends are black lol I’ve never flipped on him cause I’ve known him since I was 10 (bought the house I grew up in) and he has always gone out his way to take care of me however a couple days ago he was playing with my baby and kept saying hey boy it irked me soo bad I just kept reminding him of my sons name however it showed me alot about how he still thinks I believe he’s always been kind to me because as he says my family are “good people” but makes me side eye him
That creepy slime-ball weasel news presenter should dare accuse her of sneaky, crude, sleazy behavior.. at least she’s honest, olden days,.. all that was wrong but it’s what it was, she’s repented and not doing it anymore.. and not hating anyone..
Where did you get that idea? She flat-out denied it when the lawsuit was filed and continued to do so up until her court date. Lauer had every right and reason to call her out. She should be ashamed of herself instead of whining about the 60’s. as for not doing it anymore…do you think the guy suing her was like “I’m going sue Paula Dean for being a racist jerk, I sure hope she is one!” She’s still doing it, and she’s pissed she got caught.
Um, she is absolutely still doing it and sees nothing wrong with it.
And what BS excusing her because of her age. I’m 44 and grew up in the South. My mother, who is several years older than Deen, would never have tolerated such attitudes and words in her house. My grandmother had a good 50 years on Deen and 100% knew to keep her mouth shut if something racist came to mind. And she never, EVER would have considered dressing her employees as SLAVES.
This type of behavior and attitude has not been acceptable in polite Southern society for decades. Human decency is human decency and you don’t get a ‘pass’ on it because you long for the racist days of the ‘old’ South.
Come again?
Sounds like her true colors finally came out. So sick of these celebs with fake images when they are really completely different people.
You know, I am so sick of that excuse. “well, back in MY day”. I’ve called my own Grandma out on this kind of nonsense. Your old, so we should just excuse your rotten, racist behavior. Your day sucked, Paula, and so do you.
My dad is the worst for this. We’ve gotten into explosive, three-hour arguments over this. I just walk away now but it’s really hard. He grew up in the sixties in Scotland, and I can’t believe how judgmental he still is, especially about immigrants. He IS ONE!
My aunt was in a mixed-race relationship for years that produced 3 children. Everytime we’d call Grandma out on her the n-word, “them” or other racist crap she’d give the old “my daughter married one, how can I be a racist”? Ugh. We’d have to point out that her grandchildren were “one of them” and then she’d rant about the good old days. Double ugh.
Haha..”your day sucked.” That’s awesome.
You know what? I think she should own it. Admit it, deal with it, accept the repercussions (which will be huge), and fade into obscurity.
She’s not going to change and some glib PR campaign isn’t going to make her any less racist.
Stop being so judgmental. The bits and pieces published in the media are not the entire story. Read her whole deposition and you’ll see it’s much different than the sound bites here and there released to grab attention.
I give Paula Deen credit for being honest. The 50’s and 60’s are when I grew up and it was an entirely different America than young people know today. Not only were schools, buses and the like segregated but so were restrooms and so forth. So for Paula Deen to admit she had used the N-word during that time does not mean she is racist.
I also wonder about the hypocrisy of the people criticizing Paula Deen for using a disparaging word but then running out to buy the most recent rap cd’s that are littered with the N-word and disparaging words against women.
“I also wonder about the hypocrisy of the people criticizing Paula Deen for using a disparaging word but then running out to buy the most recent rap cd’s that are littered with the N-word and disparaging words against women. ”
And you have proof that everyone is doing this?
Ever hear of beyonces hubby JZ. Hi lifestyle proves that many people do just that
Francine — thank you. I do agree with you.
I am very curious to know the background of the plaintiff. Something is fishy. I think they are trying to force a high cash settlement
If I could capitalize a question mark, in order to show my WTF puzzlement right now, I’d do it. What does the character of the plaintiff have to do with Deen’s admitted fantasies involving slave servers, or her brother’s consuming porn in the office?
@ok ICWY ure tiring me out ihave to say it I’m reading ur comments and I don’t think u have in anyway tried to find out the facts surrounding this case yet ur determined that this is about someone who Is “money grubbing” what do u have so invested in PD that u even after admittedly not know the facts of the case are so determined to see employee in a negative light @francine she did admit to using the word in a negative manner when describing her robber. And regardless this is about her and her treatment of other human beings of a different race and creating a hostile work environment for them so why do people have to be hypocrites if they buy a cd and listen to it In the privacy of their homes or vehicles have to do with this woman forcing black employees to use seperate facilities?!! I’m just saying maybe some self evaluation needs to happen before u throw stones from a glass house
I think the difference is the people who buy rap music with the “n” word in it aren’t bothered by it and they voluntarily listened to it. That doesn’t in any way give an employer the right to subject its employees to racial slurs and insults and create a hostile work environment.
You can listen to whatever crap you want to on your own time, but you can’t subject other employees to it.
I think you’re the one who needs to read the transcript. She refers to the 60s being a different time (which is NOT AN EXCUSE, you’ve had fifty years to learn to behave better), but she admits to using the word in the 80s and more recently.
And I am so unbelievably tired of “but black people use the n-word, so no one can complain when a white person does!” No. Black people are allowed to use the word if they choose to. White people aren’t. I’m sorry if that makes you feel sad and persecuted, but black people were ACTUALLY persecuted — very frequently by people who called them the n-word while doing so. Ceding ownership and control of a single word that white people used in horrible ways for a very long time is the VERY LEAST everyone else can do. You don’t have to understand why black people might want to use the word themselves, or why it would matter so much that other people not use it. If it feels unfair to you, just remind yourself that it was a lot more unfair to murder black people who tried to vote during the civil rights movement.
Perfect post is perfect.
Love this comment 🙂 It should be re-posted whenever one of the closeted bigots tries the hypocrisy argument.
“Black people are allowed to use the word if they choose to”. I find the word equally offensive if it’s coming from a white or a black person. Black people try to justify use of the word as trying to take away it’s power. The problem is that the more WE use it, the more non-black people will be comfortable with saying it as well. If we want to “take away the word’s power” we need to STOP USING IT.
Cancelling the Today Show is really a big mistake. Paula needs to come out and talk about this mess or she will not only ruin HER empire but the careers of both of her sons. They both have TV shows and they run the restaurants so this could really cause problems for them.
I’m actually not a fan, and never have been a fan. I can’t stand to listen to her ridiculous accent, which is totally NOT normal southern. Everything about her is too big and too loud. However, I would hate to see her, or anybody, go out like this after spending years as a beloved icon.
Yeah the network is “monitoring the situation”. This piece of racist trash makes them far too money for them to just cancel her shows. She, like Paris Hilton and BloHan and so many others, is proof positive that money and fame do not equate class and manners.
I quit supporting her when she represented Smithfield, knowing that they are inhumane. And her talk about the 50’s and 60’s is just BS because she called President Obama a N. I find her intolerable and I’m white, female and from South Carolina.
I have a question when an african american uses the term to another african american it is accepted here where I live. When a white woman uses it from the south it a problem??? The word should not be used.
Blaming her or making her the poster girl for “racism” is stupid. I never saw her show. I am just wanted to point a double standard up here in the North where I live.
I really dislike the assumption that all black people use the N word. Or are okay with other black people using it. It is an offensive notion.
This goes much further than using a racial slur. She also admits to feeling nostalgia over deeply racist things like slavery.
As I wrote yesterday. Paula grew up during the civil rights movement. She has no excuse for her behavior. She allowed a hostile work environment and is now being called on it.
If she didn’t want that, she shouldn’t have been using slurs. She should have called out both her brother and her husband.
I am a Black person. (I really hate the term African-American since I’m not from any country in Africa. I’m just an American.) Anyway, I understand what you are saying re: Black people using the n-word among themselves but not tolerating it when White people say it. I have no explanation except to say the word is used in “fun” situations with no malice intended. I agree with you that it should not be used by anyone in any situation but there you have it.
Also, in Paula’s situation, apparently she and her brother used the word in a work environment, which is NOT acceptable in any way by anyone. She also told racist jokes in front of Black people who worked for her. So I think using the n-word is the least of her problems at this point.
Of course Paula cancelled, she is a coward.
They had an awesome cooking segment with a good celebrity chef since Brian Boitano was on Today this morning.
I feel like he was throwing some shade at Paula in a print interview when he made a point about not needing to add a lot of fat or butter to recipes.
http://www.blisstree.com/2013/05/31/food/brian-boitano-cookbook/
I’m not…I can’t…There is NO excuse for that kind of talk. I don’t care WHERE OR WHEN you were raised, it’s not acceptable. (And I also despise those of “ethnic” or “multi-ethnic” parentage who refer to themselves and others as [not typing it out] ‘N-word.)
(My ex is from Alabama – ROLL TIDE! – and I’ve not ever heard that word from him or his family.)
Can I clear this up right now as a black person?
When a black person uses the N-word in talking to or about another black person, it’s rude and low-class but the word does not have nearly the same despicable connotations as when a non-black person says it to or about a black person.
In the same way, a German-American referring to another one as a “Kraut” does not have the same connotation as a black person or another non-German-American calling him a “Kraut”.
In a way it’s like family dynamics. Your sister might be a bitch, but you wouldn’t let anyone outside the family call her one.
Yeah. This. I just can’t believe people are still bringing this up. How do you not see the difference?
Everytime people bring this up it reeks of “they do it so why can’t WE do it?”. It just feels like a way of justifying it and it’s simply not the same thing.
As a white chick, I’m indifferent to the use of that word among the black community-I just feel like it’s not my place to have an opinion about it.
When I’ve heard white people bring up this topic, I just tell them: “our ancestors weren’t enslaved by black people.” What more do you need to understand?
Ugh.
The level of ignorance involved with a person that needs the concepts of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, church bombings, disenfranchisement, three-fifths personhood, cross burnings, beatings, lynchings, water cannons and more explained to them is beyond mind-boggling. I really have a hard time not asking them flat out if they are willfully obtuse or just plain stupid.
@Mich:
Willfully obtuse or plain stupid? How about six of one and half a dozen of the other?
THIS.
A friend of mine years ago was married to the biggest POS ever. She called him every name in the book and one day I referred to him as her “a-hole husband”. She looked at me and said, “Don’t you ever call him that. I can call him that because he’s MY hisband but you don’t have the right.”.
@Mich-I feel like people who ignore the historical impact of American racism are the kind of people who would say “that’s all in the past. We have a black president now. Black people need to move on” etc as way of diminishing or casting aside the horror. They just refuse to see that racism is still alive & well, it’s present in a frequently more insidious incarnation but it hasn’t vanished.
^^This times a bajillion.
Preach! God, I’m so tired of that argument, the willful ignorance of persons who make those remarks.
Once again, I gotta commend the CB commenters (with the exception of ok and a couple of other PD apologists) for their sane, rational, thoughtful posts. I’m staying away from on any other threads on other sites, my blood pressure can’t take it.
+10. Assuming every black person is okay with the n-bomb amonst temselves is like assuming every white person is a racist.
Will we be seeing Paula on ‘Oprah’ again? After a girls booze-splashed week-end cry-giggle fest? Seems the same old victims keep showing up at Oprah house and later on her show to cry on her shoulder, blame others, and stoke their own egos.
^This.
“If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.” Guess that’s why she cancelled on the Today Show. Well, bless her heart!
Any apology or backtracking wont be coming from a place of sincerity so if she wants to be a racist twat, let her be a racist twat. She can basically kiss her butter filled career goodbye now. And to think I almost bought her cookware at Target!
Maybe Paula decided that her first interview shouldn’t be Lauer, but her good friend, Oprah Winfrey. Would love to listen in on that phone call, assuming Oprah answers. In any event, Food Network needs to stick the fork in all things Deen. It’s over.
I worked for Paula for two years at The Lady & Sons in Savannah for while I was in college. This right at the beginning of the fame climb- the show was in the second season and starting to explode in popularity…interesting times. Her office was actually in the restaurant and everyone working there knew the entire family pretty well. Let’s just say that I can’t imagine anyone that spent time around the “real” Paula would jump to her defense except for the Butter Sycophants.
Oh, and Lisa Jackson was a server during my time and has been with them for years now. I don’t know what the final straw was, but she blew the lid off of that carefully honed celebrity veneer. Team Lisa all the way.
Thanks for the insight AlyKat. Always nice to get the scoop from someone who knows.
In all her pix she looks like she’s high on something. I’m wondering if she’s taking something to lose weight.
Now we see the true Paula, the one behind the blinding white teeth, towering wig, and heavy accent. And she is not anyone that I ever care to watch or hear from again. I always knew that the way she cooked was unhealthy, but her attitudes and beliefs are so much worse. She is offensive in every way.
I think you guys are being WAY too hard on Paula and should recognize everything she’s contributed to society. If she hadn’t been so gross and racist, I wouldn’t have spent my lunch hour laughing my arse off at the hysterical #paulasbestdishes tweets making fun of her on Twitter. The core strength I’ve gained from laughing cancels out all of her nasty, obesity promoting recipes.
Jesus, her eyes are crazier than Michelle Bachmann’s.
http://tinyurl.com/oq4xq2e
Lol, so what do you think, botched surgery or prescription drugs/lack thereof?
People are still not going to like her answers even if it’s the truth but I agree that her only option at this point is to tell the truth and confront the situation directly and apologize. The damage has already been done so just own it. That would be the grown up thing to do anyway. She definitely has the crazy eyes!
She should’ve settled out of court. I don’t think she did because she probably honestly believes with her big southern heart that she did nothing wrong. From her deposition: “I just don’t know what to say. I can’t, myself, determine what offends another person.” Basically, that says to me she believes it’s ok to use racial slurs and that if someone doesn’t like it they’re the one with the problem, not her. She can’t help it if we’re all offended. She needs to go. Food Network are you listening??
Yep, that remark is just as insincere as a non-apology that begins with “I’m sorry if you were offended but…”
Playing devil’s advocate here: the key word is “alleged.” They still have to prove that she and her brother created a hostile work environment and actually said these things.
Pretty sure there won’t be a problem with proving it. The proof is in the puddin’ ya’ll.
Some things in the lawsuit are alleged and still need to be proven. But her use of the n-word and the fact that she wanted to do a Civil War-era themed wedding with all black wait staff dressed as slaves are not allegations. She ADMITTED those things under oath in her deposition. Whatever else is or isn’t proven in this lawsuit, those things are true.
There is nothing alleged about her deposition.
This stuff is taken from deposition transcripts. No “alleged” needed.
So u must not have seen the post a few up from urs if a former employee at one of her resteraunts?
There are many posts ahead of mine. To which one where you referring?
I am assuming there are witnesses (other employees) being called on Lisa Jackson’s side or have also been depo-ed or questioned by attorneys. The “she said/they said” type of lawsuit wouldn’t fly on this scale. That would provide the “proof” part that I mentioned, however, I did take creative liberties in implying that said proof would be in any type of pudding.
I think people are all racist, or group labeling, on some level. In your mind you quantify people as the same as you or different from you whether you want to recognize it or not. It’s the way our mind works. We catergorize, group, and filter our visual ques. To say otherwise would be false. We do this in a matter of nano seconds and may not realize it as such but it IS happening people.
Also, having visited the south for some extended periods of time while staying with relatives, well, I can tell you it was always an eye opener. I always contended the South would ever rise again because they ALL kept themselves down. This is always boiling just below the surface. When Nene Calls Kim a white heifer is that ok? No! If she does that on camera AND chokes Kim out on camera and doesn’t get fired what does that say about us? She has prospered from her behavior and I think people are afraid to call her out on it. The other housewives have modeled the same ignorant and discriminatory behavior towards Kim when they said that Kim would never hold an African baby. Lord only knows what they edit out.
It would be disingenuous to think that none of you have ever differentiated between class, wealth, education, body type, regional living, speaking style, gender, or skin color.
She has made some huge mistakes, and let the chips fall where they may, but, she is not Satan.
People can be as racist as they want in their own homes. But the law prohibits them from subjecting their employees to that racism. This isn’t about whether we are all racists, or it Paula is racist, or if she’s a good person. The law requires the employer to provide a workplace that is free from racism. How hard is that to understand?
This case is specifically about employment law, and the work environment. Paula could probably have gotten away with what she said under different circumstance, but NOT when she’s the employer and employees are subject to it.
Well, Paula can’t be a racist employer b/c that’s against the law. But, she also can’t be a racist as a public figure b/c she has to have an audience, network and advertisers. This has potential to screw her on both fronts.
@mrs.krabapple have I told u I like u? U always make so much sense
No. Not all people are racist. I think you need a dictionary.
There is a big difference between assigning people to groups based on education, etc. to concluding that an entire race is inferior because of the color of their skin.
Hey Merritt I never said all black people use that language. I have friends who are African American and they use it and I have had a talk with them. They use it when like others use white trash. I have true African American family members. I have friends of different races and religions. My one friend great grandmother was a slave in N.C. she and I do not use the word and agree its worth talking to others about.
My point was simple I do not want (my hope) the word being used in any context. Just like DIEGO OR MICK.
I feel it is a negative term and should not be used in 2013. Please stop twisting what I said. Thanks mslewis got what I was saying. I see people as Human beings.
Apparently she’s going to issue a video statement later this afternoon.
She’s a hypocrite, a grifter, a shiller and greedy white trash. Her recipes suck and payback’s a bitch Paula!
I can’t see how this didn’t get settled quietly, unless the employees had enough in the way of tapes/witnesses/etc to force it. She has enough money – – she should retire and fade away so she doesn’t become a threat to her sons’ careers.
This woman is disgusting. Not just because of her obvious racist attitude but because of the horrow she commits to the human body every day that she cooks that garbage. I hope she crawls in a hole & pulls the hole in after her!
Well, the apology is out. Damage control in full force.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20711370,00.html
Her voice always irritated me and I never bought into the over the top cornpone attitude. If I heard one more “y’all” I was going to scream. And I am from the south, so she was always too much for me.
And if she did use disparaging language and racial slurs in a BUSINESS situation–not in the privacy of her home, it is a hostile environment for employees. That seems to be lost here. Any HR person would fire her and the case would be lost as what she just admitted was exactly what she was accused of. There are absolutely no excuses for what she did and said.
Why oh why the dashiki, Paula?? IMO it seems so forced. Your pr campaign to “forgive you” is terrible attempt to get us back in your good graces. What now, is she gonna kiss some orphaned war children from deepest darkest Africa? Shudder to think, adopting?? Ugh she exudes ick factor. Crazy eyes
Paula Deen and the, hopefully, few racists out there (those on this thread included): this is the trash heap of history; now march sprightly towards it! Racism is mental detritus and you make us all dirty with it!
she has lost me as a fan, I can’t say I am surprised though…
Interesting info from HLN,(CNN’s sister station) March, 2012:
Deen’s lawyer, Oliver Maner, said in a statement to HLN that “We investigated those claims and attempted unsuccessfully to address those claims with her. She has made baseless, inflammatory allegations, threatening to go to the press and ruin Paula Deen’s reputation and the reputation of her businesses unless we paid her a large sum of money. We refused to bow to that kind of pressure and refused to pay money to address false claims.”
But the accusations were apparently NOT baseless, now were they?
@OK – I don’t know if you’re trolling or the point went over your head. I was asking Francine how she came to the conclusion that ‘everyone’ is running out to buy rap music.
“Food Network will not renew Paula Deen’s contract when it expires at the end of this month.” — Hollywood Reporter
Just about to say that. I’m surprised it took them this long.
The Food Network needed to make sure that everything in their decision not to renew Deen’s contract was aboveboard and legal.
Stick a fork in her, she’s done!
MSN just reported that she got fired. Thank God.
Ten bucks says Fox News hires her as their food critic.
LOL!
Don’t think so. She is damaged goods right now. No one in their right mind is going to take the chance in hiring her. She’s such a loose cannon right now. Not to mention she lacks a proper filter. She needs to such her trap for a while, stay out of the spotlight and go away until this boils over. I looked around to see if her “mamma’s boys” have come forward to say anything in her defense. Haven’t found anything. Very interesting! I always thought she was drunk most of the time when she did her shows—looked it to me. So I wonder if she will come forward to say she has a drinking problem, hence the reason why she has all these problems.
Food Network has just announced they are dropping her.
Yup, like yesterday’s garbage.
I’m not condoning racism, but at least she didn’t lie about it. Nearly every person at one point or another has used some sort of derogatory term to describe another human being that they did not know. I was raised by a racist father and it was left to my mother to explain to my siblings and myself that these terms were not right and I was raised in the 60’s/70’s in the Midwest by educated parents. In my opinion, it would have been worse if she lied and said “oh no I never ever ever used a term like that”, then this whole thread would be about her being a liar. This was a no win for her. Regarding Food Network not renewing her contract, she was toward the end of her useful run with them anyway.
@Ron
“I’m not condoning racism”
Yes, you are. Please re-read the amazing posts on this thread that address your points. As far as Deen being in a no win situation: You’re right because, at best, she is a racist.
OMG here we goooo again! really@Ron?? please scroll up and read most of the comments. It’s not about the olden times, it’s about the current/present days where she CONTINUOUSLY says racial slurs in an open establishment, in front of her employees! NOT in private mind you. If that’s an excuse to say “oh well everyone say it one time or another”, well I guess you are her apologist.
@Ron:
Yes, my friend, you are most definitely condoning racism. And I might also add, apparently you can’t READ either or you wouldn’t have come up with that ‘conclusion’
This woman and her redneck brother (Bubba? Really???) have OPENLY made racist comments and ‘jokes’ in front of their employees in a place of business. I hope her staff sues her FAT ass off!!!
She is a bigot, plain and simple. Take your buttery ass back the trailer park, bitch!
“Take your buttery ass back to the trailer park”… Seriously!!!
.
Now who is being the racist?
.
It is not the N word, but to a white person, it is about as racist as the N word!
@Eli
???
Is it the “buttery ass” part that’s somehow racist? Or are you saying that trailer park residents are a separate race unto themselves?
Should have settled! This is what happens when the ego gets out of control …
Or when the defense lawyers’ egos get out of control…
Thank you Food Network!
Food Network has CANNED Paula Deen. Thank you to all who had the courage to write them. I meant to, but had not yet done so.
There is never any justification to say anything racist. Ever. The people who defend her are just as ignorant as she is. As recently as 6 months ago, I had a man joke with me about the KKK and one of my coworkers attempted to defend him. I was so disgusted, just like I am at Paula Deen. I’m just happy we live in an era when people are getting called out and there are repercussions for such ugly behavior. Rant done 🙂
So let me ask you, have you ever referred to a white personas “white trash”? Like I said up thread, if Paula Deen were black, we would not be having this conversation! The word needs to disappear, but as long as blacks, not just the rappers, continue to use it, it will stay alive and well.
@ Eli
My jaw drops a little more with each one of your comments.
“White trash” is a classist term, not a racist one. It was developed by whites to describe a subset of white society. It is in no way tied to a history of persecution, enslavement, disenfranchisement, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, etc.
Conflating this term with the language and attitudes of Paula Deen and her ilk is beyond ignorant.
And of course we wouldn’t be having this conversation if Deen was black. Context is everything. Deen is on record as being someone who admires the days of white people owning black people. In her autobiography, she discusses beating the blistered hands of her black nanny’s child with a paddle so the blisters would pop. When the nanny slapped her for it, Deen’s family had the nanny thrown in jail. Decades later, execs at the FN had to stop her from naming one of her recipes a ‘Sambo burger’.
Do you really not get the difference in context here?
If your friends are calling each other the n- word, then you need to get better friends. Most of you have just heard rappers use it or entertainers in their stand-up. ( Just like white people use the word white trash in their stand-up)
So please stop saying, all black people use the word, it is not true.
As a black women, I do not condone her behavior but I do think she can learn how words and actions can hurt.
The truth is Hollywood is more racist than Paula.
What about QVC? Will they continue to have her faux southern y’all bs ness selling hams and whatever?
Everyone is acting like she has killed someone get a grip you all aren’t perfect let the one that is perfect cast the first stone. Mat Lauer can’t keep his pants zipped his wife was going to dump him if Natalie Morales got co anchor He and others on that show are so lame as to call her out they should be to for what’s come out on them.
No, Paula Deen is acting like she’s the victim when she’s the one that has gone around racially insulting people for ages in the workplace.
If Matt Lauer disappeared tomorrow, no one would miss him either.
Goody gumdrops. Paula Deen is Paula Done.
I feel bad for Paula. You can tell that she is truly upset and sorry about this issue. I pesonally enjoy watching her show, and i will continue to support her. This happened 50 years ago and much has changed since then. We have all learned about what is socially acceptable behavior. Racism is unacceptable in any form, as well as judging someone by their weight, sexual preference, or looks. I have more respect for Paula that she was honest.
@Tammarella. She admits to using that language in 2007. I read the entire deposition. The fact that you feel so sorry for her and will continue to support her says volumes about YOU.
Maybe you should take your racist self to this link and get informed. She is a racist pig, she has been using that word for her whole life. Of course she has called people that. That was her answer. OF COURSE!
This is a quote lifted right out of the depo. Go ahead, defend THIS!
17
61.The racially discriminatory attitudes pervade the workplace. An example,showing that Paula Deen holds such racist views herself, occurred after DefendantDeen placed Ms. Jackson in charge of food and serving arrangements for thewedding of her brother Bubba Hiers in February 2007. When Ms. Jackson asked Ms. Deen what the wedding should have, Ms. Deen replied, “I want a truesouthern plantation-style wedding.”62.When asked by Ms. Jackson what type of uniforms she preferred serversto wear, Paula Deen stated, “Well what I would really like is a bunch of little n—–s to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know inthe Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around.” Paula Deen laughed and said “Now that would be a true southern wedding, wouldn’t it? But we can’tdo that because the media would be on me about that.”
@ Original Tiffany, you know nothing about me…so who’s judging who ?
This did not happen 50 years ago, She admitted to the year 86 and she called Obama the N word.
So this wasn’t back in the olden days and she did it in front of her employees at their place of work making a hostile work environment.
Which is you know… Against the law!
“This happened fifty years ago”…say what!?!
I am not surprised as it has come out over the years she has a real potty mouth. But as far as being washed up, didn’t Dog th Bounty hunter get caught on tape saying that? A&E put his show on hiatus until the bad press died down. I have been living in Alabama for 25 years and no, nice people don’t say the N word sorry…
Hnpg, I liked her fine until this backwards f*ckery. Here’s a thoughtful bit from another site
http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/06/20/2185391/tv-chef-paula-deens-plantation-nostalgia-and-the-resentments-of-racists/
I have NEVER liked Paula Deen. Could never stand her over the top fakeness, her affectation of an accent or the way she coddles and babies her grown sons. I am so glad she will be off Food Network.
There is no excuse for racism. Never. Not age, not where you are from, nothing. And although the racial slur in question makes me sick, I am more disturbed by her wanting to dress African American folks up like plantation slaves at her wedding. Disgusting.
Oh, and Team Anthony Bourdain all the way. Always. No, I don’t agree with everything he says, but he travels the world trying to bring light to different cultures and economic situations. He has been VERY vocal in his defense of kitchen and restaurant workers all over the United States, they are often Latino immigrants and African Americans. I find him quite admirable, actually.
Rant over. Now I hope Paula Deen goes away and I never have to see her or hear her crazy voice again.
might have to throw my skillet out!!!!
What I’m not understanding, so maybe y’all can explain it to me, is if it’s true that she didn’t use that term for 40 or so years, why is it being brought up in a current deposition for an employee that I thought was recent? Is it to establish that she’s racist in general? I believe she’s racist because she was allegedly telling racist jokes in front of employees. Adding that awful word is just more proof.
And her blaming her Southern upbringing on being racist is ridiculous! I’m Southern, as is my family, and I honestly had never heard anyone speak that word until someone said it on an HBO comedy special of some sort.
She’s a phony. People who know her have said that her Southern accent has gotten thicker while doing her shows. You can tell if you see her old stuff versus the new. Add to that her lying about having diabetes when she knew she did, and she’s quite the piece of racist, lying work.
Her contract for her shows won’t be renewed. She was fired!
I’m waiting for stores to take her products of their shelves including that magazine that makes me sick to my stomach.
Food Network replaced her Saturday morning shows with Giada today.
Go Food Network!
Oh jeez, anybody but Giada. She needs to follow Paula out the door. Talk about exaggerated accents.
Oh lord, I can’t stand Giada. She has a smile like a demented shark.
i never liked her, her accent is fake and her food is gross
but i find it interesting that some people criticizing her feel comfortable using the term white trash.
I was thinking the same.
Someone up thread has already explained it before. White trash is a classist term that was coined by rich white people who looked down on their poorer counterparts.
It wrong to use that term and I see your point. But it is bothersome when we start comparing ugly words. It would be a better world if no one felt like they had to demean another human being, Period.
As vile as Paula Deen is, can we also consider the disgusting behaviour of Bubba (is that his actual name?) – sexist and racist, or so I hear. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Yup, nasty, too. Racism and porn, talk about a hostile work environment.
The majority of posters on the Yahoo.com site where they have many Paula Deen articles are in almost unanimous support of Ms. Deen. Most are taking her excuses out of context and referring to her statements as a freedom of speech issue rather than a hostile work place issue. It is sickening to me that they cannot seem to understand the real issue of work place racism and the harm it does to people. I am happy to find your forum and fully support Food Network’s actions to rid their channel of this inappropriate woman. (I do not ever refer to her as a “Lady” because she is not.
Ugh. My local (big city) paper covered it and almost all the comments are supportive of her. The commenters are generally and sadly a bunch of vile, ignorant bigots so that’s no surprise. Same with People.com, people saying things like “we’ve gotten too PC.”
I am disgusted with so much of the blogosphere…sometimes it seems like the only sane, rational, civil people come here (thankfully)!
I was just on the Yahoo article, and I’m guessing some of these people can’t read because a lot of them are supporting her because they think all of these claims happened in the sixties.
And the other half think it’s okay for her to be racist. People these days…
It IS OK for her to be racist. In the privacy of her own home and amongst her friends and family. It is illegal for her to make racist statements to and around employees.
With that being said, it is also perfectly OK for people to despise her racist and ethnocentric comments and refuse to allow her a public forum in which to spew such vitriol. These comments are not way in the past. These comments are clearly not an aberration from the way this woman thinks. Just from her part in the deposition, I see no reason to discount any of the plaintiff’s complaints.
Save us from the ‘freedom of speech’ morons! The amount of ignorance around that term and what it actually means drives me around the bend.
Yahoo’s comment section has a history of racist comments. I give Google my searching business :).
Its funny how many think only whites can be racist. To me, this says they have not traveled anywhere in the world, and are truly ignorant about other cultures. Almost ALL races have people who are racist and hate. And thinking that only whites have oppressed other races displays an astounding ignorance of world history.
? What does this have to do with the price of tea in China? We are discussing a specific person and a specific word and attitude.
So, the people who were actually hurt aren’t allowed to feel bad because it’s selfish to respond to reality before we feel ashamed about something hypothetical? Why steal focus? Isn’t it enough that such an awful thing has happened? Why aren’t people allowed to talk about it without being told that we’re all just jerks and should be focused on the real suffering?
She isn’t racist, we all say things we don’t mean out of fear/anger behind closed doors, she is being punished for being honest! Anyone can start a lawsuit. $65.00 and the burden of proof is on the defendant in this country. You don’t have to do anything wrong, all they have to do is have it so the defendant can’t prove the plaintif wrong. A lawsuit of this magnatude, could be manipulated with 3-4 friends lying for each other and then splitting the money. been done before. Food network dropped her because they saw the lawsuit coming.
Honestly, never watched her show, know she cooks fattening food and is apparently a racist. But gawd, the 3rd pic is AWESOME! Anytime she is mentioned in press that pic should be used.
It’s always satisfying to see the arrogant jerkolas get knocked down a peg.
There was more to the story than i knew about, sorry to get your panties in a twist @Original Tiffany. I thought this happened long ago, and like i said it’s not okay to judge anyone, but forgiveness is the true test of a person. I’m sure that we have all been guilty of judging someone at some point in our lives.
Not all southerns use the n_word. I am 78 and never used it/heard it. Not EVER. People of all races have names. Use names…how simple. I was raised in Mississippi. Again, never used or heard the it. I have lived/traveled to 37 countries. Still never heard.