Paula Deen's Reputation

Before Paula Deen’s reputation was demolished, most people thought of this celebrity chef as a kindhearted and generous woman that never caused any drama or hatred. Deen spent her life fattening up people with her delicious, butter-filled southern recipes and raising two respectable sons. Then her perfect life rapidly screeched to a halt and she found herself in a courthouse being sued by her own employee over racial discrimination (Puente). This was not too hard for most people to believe because of her early life. Originally born and raised in the south, where racism was very common. Due to her background it wouldn’t be insane to think that she was submerged with racial slurs and racial discrimination while growing up. This paper will go …show more content…
Initially Deen acted like the lawsuit would quickly blow over and she would easily win, but she soon realized there was only one way to end it. It was during a direct examination of Deen when she finally confessed to having used the N-word in her past. She also admitted to imagining a “southern plantation-style wedding” with African Americans playing the role of their ancestors as slaves (Phillip). Although the lawsuit didn’t end as fast as Deen would have liked, it was eventually resolved in her favor with the judge dismissing the racial discrimination claims because Jackson was white and therefore wasn’t directly affected. Almost immediately after this, Deen and Jackson decided to dismiss the entire lawsuit with prejudice. Following the dismissal, Jackson provided this statement, "The Paula Deen I have known... is a woman of compassion and kindness and will never tolerate discrimination or racism of any kind toward anyone" (Deep). It seemed like the worst was over for Deen, but not even Jackson’s heartfelt statement could prevent the rage that was to