14 DAY TRIAL // Paula Deen is ready for her comeback. After a period of very bad press, lawsuits, racist allegations and, perhaps just as importantly, the loss of various endorsement deals, the celebrity chef has made her first public appearance in months over the weekend.
The venue was the Metro Cooking & Entertaining show in Houston, Texas, with Paula taking to the stage to speak and receiving a 10-minute ovation from fans, AceShowbiz reports.
Clearly, this was their way of showing Paula their unconditional love and support and, just the same, belief that she could never do or say the things she was accused of.
Their message did not fail to impress Ms. Deen, who burst into tears. She explained that she was crying of joy.
“These are tears of joy, y'all. This is my first time out in three months... The one place I wanted to make my first step out was in Texas. You are forgiving folks with hearts as big as your state,” Paula said.
In the end, despite the huge loss she’s suffered since the scandal broke, Paula opts to look on the bright side of things.
“We all experience pain in some way but pain is also a good thing because it makes you grow,” she said. Later during the show, she yelled into a camera, “I'm back!”
Paula Deen was accused by a former employee of being a racist, after she referred to a 3rd party by the N-word years ago.
The incident might have happened a long time back but it cost Paula a fortune, as sponsors rushed to drop her from her contracts. Financially, it spelled disaster for the once-beloved celebrity chef.
In a very emotional Matt Lauer interview, Paula denied all allegations, saying that the one time she used the N-word did not make her a racist because it was an extraordinary circumstance.