Paula Deen used to be one of the core performers on Food Network, with multiple shows, appearances
on talk shows and other programs, and even a few cookbooks under her belt.
Her show Paula's Home Cooking aired for a whopping 10 years straight, racking up 124
episodes between 2002 and 2012.
But soon it was revealed that Deen, like so many Food Network stars before her, wasn't
the person she seemed on camera — and when she went on the Today Show in 2013 to discuss
allegations of racism at her restaurant, it basically destroyed her career.
"I is what I is and I’m not changing."
First, a little back story.
The reason Deen was asked on the Today Show in the first place was to address a court
case.
Deen and her brother were being sued by a former employee, the manager of one of their
Georgia restaurants, for sexual and racial harassment.
During her deposition, when asked if she had ever used the "N-word," Deen said, "Yes, of
course."
She referenced a time when a bank she was working at was robbed, and said she probably
used the slur when telling her husband about the event.
When asked if she had used it any other time, Deen said, "I'm sure I have, but it's been
a very long time," and also that she may have said it when repeating things other people
told her.
She continued,
"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."
Additionally, Deen admitted to telling jokes, quote, "about Jewish people, rednecks, black
folks," saying,
"They're jokes […] I can't determine what offends another person."
She apparently also had planned a plantation-themed party for her brother's wedding, and wanted
to hire only black people as the waiters, after going to a restaurant that did the same.
Deen described the restaurant in court, responding to the plaintiff's lawyer, saying,
"I mean, it was really impressive.
That restaurant represented a certain era in America [...] After the Civil War, during
the Civil War, before the Civil War.
[...] It was not only black men, it was black women.
[…] I would say that they were slaves."
After the court deposition was made public, Deen's Food Network show was canceled, and
many of her other business deals fell through, including partnerships with Smithfield Hams,
QVC, and a cookbook that was already being pre-ordered.
Then, after being fired from Food Network, Deen was given a chance to appear on the Today
Show to talk about what had happened and tell her side of the story.
But instead of taking it as an opportunity to apologize, she used her Today Show spot
to say that she didn't think she should have been fired.
"Would I have fired me?
Knowing me?
No."
Instead of apologizing for her words and actions, Deen tried to claim that she believed firmly
in equality, saying that she believed that everyone should be treated equally and that's
how she was raised.
She also denied having any racist thoughts or racist tendencies, in spite of having gone
on the record under oath saying that she had in fact used the "N-word" more than once,
and then tried again to justify using the "N-word" when she was held up at the bank.
"Which N-word is she talking about?
There's a whole buncha N words."
"The bad one."
"Like nutrition?"
Even under duress, Deen shouldn't have used a racial slur, but rather than apologize for
her behavior, she tried to make her case, and it didn't go well.
"There's someone evil out there that saw what I had worked for and they wanted it."
After the interview, PR experts weighed in on whether or not Deen's career could recover,
and many argued that her strange non-apology made it clear she would still be a liability
to work with.
Deen hasn't disappeared for good, however.
She's made a bit of a comeback since the incident in 2013, appearing on talk shows, opening
a new chain of restaurants, collaborating on a fashion line, and starring in a new television
show.
Still, it's a long climb back to the stardom she had achieved before her cringeworthy appearance
on the Today Show.
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