Sure, it’s a little easy to pick on Paula Deen, with her deep love of heavily-caloric cuisine and her once-secret diabetes, but this week, after a court deposition seemingly outed her as a fan of casual racism, now it’s an all-out-assault on the chipper TV host/chef. The Daily Show got into the act last night, with a two part segment. In the second portion, Jessica Williams helped to discern whether Deen has “Type 1” or “Type 2” racism:

This morning, Deen was supposed to appear on the Today Show to discuss this entire fiasco, but apparently didn’t feel like facing the heat:

While she might not be able to repair her relationship with Matt Lauer now, Deen is working on some sort of damage control:

Look how serious she is! She’s going to make sure people understand that she didn’t mean those things she said under oath…wait, that’s probably a bad idea. Maybe blame the butter. Butter makes people do crazy things.

[UPDATE: Here’s her apology video, which, and maybe this is nitpicky, has three edits?]

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Actually she removed the first apology (still viewable here) and has put up another one. She’s been let go by the Food Network either way.)

This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2013.

The editor of the Tucson Weekly. I have no idea how I got here.

4 replies on “Paula Deen Is Having a Rough Week”

  3. Wasn’t she asked under oath if she had every in the past said the N word?
    Have YOU ever said it? I thought so!
    So what? It’s just a word folks, get over it. And she told the truth, she was under oath.
    I can’t stand to watch Paula Deen, but I defend her here. The Food Network has lost my respect for their stupid reaction. They are just cowards for not standing by their star. Dump the Food Network.

    Is it logical that a person’s career can be ruined for having said in the past one word that blacks don’t like? And Deen didn’t even say the N word, she just said that at some time in the past she had said it.
    Instead of worrying about an unpleasant word someone might have said at some time in the past, try worrying about now…right now we have the govt. spying on us, our president lying to us, we have lost our security because of the government, the US is making trouble all over the world including here at home, and we focus on what one cooking show host may have said in the past?

    The only time I hear the N word used is when blacks use it. I hear rappers and athletes say it frequently. I have a long-time black friend who sometimes calls other blacks by the N word. It does stun me when she says it, but she is so accustomed to saying it she seems not to think anything about it. I am not going to say it, but she sure does. Because I am white I realize even though it is just a word, if I typed it here the fascists might come after me.
    Worry about the fascists, not about a cooking show host.

  4. I, racially. do not have a dog in this fight. With that being said, honestly, who hasn’t used a racial slur before? Especially an old white person from the south? The only thing she is guilty of is ACTUALLY being honest under oath, with rarely happens these days.

    Which begs the question, if this were an old, southern, black woman who said that she had said “cracka” in the 60’s, would this even be a story at all?

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