14 DAY TRIAL // Celebrity chef Paula Deen is now involved in a bigger media scandal than the one that broke when word got out that she’d been keeping her diabetes diagnosis a secret. She admitted on record to using the N-word several times in reference to her employees and she’s now issued a statement to apologize for it.
The National Enquirer broke the story that Deen admitted to using racial slurs. Lisa Jackson, who worked at her and her brother’s restaurant in Savannah for years, filed a lawsuit against both after they fired her.
In it, she alleged that Deen’s brother would often hit on her, while she (Deen) would insult her whatever chance she got, mostly by throwing around the N-word.
Ms. Deen reportedly owned up to both allegations in a taped sworn deposition on May 17, the tab reported.
In a statement to ABC News, a publicist for the celebrity chef doesn’t deny the claims made by the Enquirer but offers by means of context the detail that Ms. Deen is of a certain age, which would somehow “justify” her using slurs of a racial nature.
“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.
“She was born 60 years ago when America's South had schools that were segregated, different bathrooms, different restaurants and Americans rode in different parts of the bus. This is not today,” it adds.
However, that’s not to say that Paula Deen is a racist, the same statement notes, even if that’s the logical conclusion one could make.
“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,” the statement adds.