14 DAY TRIAL // After a very troubled and financially disastrous 2013, celebrity chef Paula Deen is ready for her comeback. She signed a new business deal and has already started to win her way back into the hearts of the American public. Her new interview with People should help her with that some more.
In 2013, as she testified in an ongoing lawsuit, she admitted to using the N-word years before. In a matter of hours, this admission turned into accusations of being racist, which almost immediately cost her sponsors.
The Paula Deen business empire started to fall apart with such speed that industry insiders noted it was one of the most costly scandals of our times. It’s no wonder then that Deen had days when she simply couldn’t find the strength in her to get out of bed, as she tells People magazine in a new cover interview.
As word of her court admission got out, Deen first tried to put out the fire by apologizing and doing a few appearances to explain the circumstances around her use of the N-word. When that too proved to have the capacity of firing back in her face, she simply went undercover.
She admits that even thinking about what had happened made her feel as if her entire world was coming down all over again.
Today, thanks to a much-needed cash infusion, Deen is ready to get back in the saddle. She tells People she knows that some of the stigma from the scandal will stick with her, but she’s determined to do whatever she can to move on.
“I'm fighting to get my name back. I used to have dreams that I lost everything. And when it finally happens, you think, ‘I'm still alive.’ I made eight cakes in six days. I didn't eat all those cakes, but [I've been indulging] way too much lately,” she tells People.
Even husband Michael Groover was worried that she might not survive the scandal, Paula says. In the end, with help from her very strong support system and therapy sessions with a psychologist, she eventually came out on the other side.
“I feel like ‘embattled’ or ‘disgraced’ will always follow my name. It’s like that black football player who recently came out. He said, ‘I just want to be known as a football player. I don’t want to be known as a gay football player.’ I know exactly what he’s saying. I’m fighting to get my name back,” Ms. Deen adds.