The rise and fall of Paula Deen

[rotuts]

Rats. no Krispy-Creme 'bread' pudding.

[catdaddy]

Here's the menu. http://www.ladyandsons.com/index.php/menu/dinner/

It looks like pretty standard GA coastal stuff. Might be very good even.

All the food tastes like it came from the buffet.

[annabelle]

Funny thing, that. The Lady and Sons hosts a large buffet.

[lancastermike]

I think she should have never been hired in the first place.

She can't cook, she's annoying and she was a lying sack of shit about her illness. Oh, and then a shill for the drug companies.

way to keep it classy.

Not really sure why Paula Dean gets in trouble for what she says, but Bourdain is all but considered a national treasure. Wanna bet Tony never said that?

But he is cool and Paula is just an uppity broad. She has a good TV presence that lots of folks seem to like. As do Fieri and Ray, who are also widely hated.

Edited June 24, 2013 by lancastermike (log)

[annabelle]

Thanks, Mike. I was going to address that very point. I guess if Paula had been a heroin addict, it'd all be good.

[annabelle]

Wow thanks looking at that picture I see 6 + PD clones right there! have not read the piece yet FD

You know, if the NYT were writing up one of its hagiographic pieces about Soul Food in Harlem, the patrons would be sporting the same robust physiques and the food would be the same.

But that's different. What a bunch of hypocrites at the NYT.

[rotuts]

not different at all. big is big. in Harlem and at PD's

[rotuts]

it's the bottom-less all-you-can-eat Fried Chicken Trough.

Where ever you find that, you find Big.

[annabelle]

Of course, rotuts. I wasn't singling you out, just pointing out the racism of the NYT in embracing Harlem and rejecting Paula Deen for making the same food.

[Toliver]

I certainly wish her accusers in the media would have taken the time to read the 149 page deposition.

She admits that she said that word decades ago and knows better now than to say it. Nowhere in the deposition does she say she has said it recently. Her brother Bubba (the albatross around her neck) may have but Paula says she didn't. It's boiled down to a he-said/she-said issue with each side of the lawsuit having their own perspective, of course.

Yes, she uses foul language (fair warning...that's in the deposition so NSFW perhaps). She comes across as having a bawdy, "un-PC" sense of humor. I'm not excusing her for it but understanding her background and her culture growing up helps to understand who she is today.

As for the wedding with the african american waiters. Yes, she did eventually say she had an ante/post-bellum wedding in mind. But when she spoke about the waiters (in the deposition), it was with what I thought was complete and utter respect for them. She encountered them at a restaurant. They were dressed immpeccably and were all about the same age and knew how to do their jobs with precision and talent. It reminded me of French waiters where they're not actors just biding their time until their big break comes through (like in America) but where being a waiter is a chosen career where you know how to do it and you do it well. Plus, I think she was visuallizing the wedding and was so impressed with those waiters visually that she thought they would have made for a grand wedding reception/dinner. Granted, having a Civil War era themed wedding would have meant they would be playing the part of slaves but that didn't occur to Paula at first (see the deposition).

Did the Food Network even read the deposition before canning her (no pun intended)? The Food Network dropping her like a hot non-PC potato is just typical and predictable corporate chicken sh!t CYA.

[gfweb]

Did the Food Network even read the deposition before canning her (no pun intended)? The Food Network dropping her like a hot non-PC potato is just typical and predictable corporate chicken sh!t CYA.

I've always been disgusted by her and her food, but I suspect that the media/internet frenzy has blown things out of proportion. She's probably getting screwed. Having said that, I won't miss her.

She's like A-rod, underperforming and overpriced. FN I'm sure wants to bring in a rookie that costs less and took advantage of the brouhaha to trim the roster.

[rotuts]

FN I'm sure wants to bring in a rookie that costs less

for sure. FN is after all a part of a fixed package of Rather Excellent Cable. You have almost no choice in the matter.

you could go Cable Free ....

Edited June 24, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[prasantrin]

Oh, David. Honestly, it's not like she's single-handedly taken down the NYSE. Martha Stewart couldn't even do that.

The plaintiff is only including Paula Deen in the suit because she has deep pockets. Bubba has been a pack of trouble since he was a teen. Paula tried to help him out and got burned.

I believe the plaintiff is Paula Deen because she's the owner of the restaurant. In grievances, even if the accused is an individual (could even just be a customer), it's the employer who is held at least partially responsible for not providing a safe working environment.

[prasantrin]

Wow thanks looking at that picture I see 6 + PD clones right there! have not read the piece yet FD

You know, if the NYT were writing up one of its hagiographic pieces about Soul Food in Harlem, the patrons would be sporting the same robust physiques and the food would be the same.

But that's different. What a bunch of hypocrites at the NYT.

I have to wonder if you even read the article. I thought it presented the "other side" of the argument fairly. It gave direct quotations from her supporters and did not, in my opinion, skew things to favour those who are appalled by Deen's words / behaviour. They even made a point of interviewing an African American who espoused support for Deen. (which to me, speaks of an "I'm not prejudiced; some of my best friends are [fill-in-minority-group-here] denial)

The picture is merely a picture of a line up in front of Paula Deen's restaurant the day (or thereabouts) after the crap hit the fan. I really don't believe the photographer requested all the obese people to line up at front (it appears to be the front of the line). Those just happened to the be people who were there. How does that make the NYTimes writers / photographers hypocrites?

[annabelle]

You're correct prasantrin. Isn't the plaintiff asking the defendants to prove a negative, though? As I said upthread, the grievance of the waitress seems to be she said/he said and a boatload of hearsay.

Meanwhile, Deen's fans crush the Food Network's message boards. Via Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/angry-fans-on-food-network-facebook-page-2013-6

[annabelle]

Wow thanks looking at that picture I see 6 + PD clones right there! have not read the piece yet FD

You know, if the NYT were writing up one of its hagiographic pieces about Soul Food in Harlem, the patrons would be sporting the same robust physiques and the food would be the same.

But that's different. What a bunch of hypocrites at the NYT.

I have to wonder if you even read the article. I thought it presented the "other side" of the argument fairly. It gave direct quotations from her supporters and did not, in my opinion, skew things to favour those who are appalled by Deen's words / behaviour. They even made a point of interviewing an African American who espoused support for Deen. (which to me, speaks of an "I'm not prejudiced; some of my best friends are [fill-in-minority-group-here] denial)

The picture is merely a picture of a line up in front of Paula Deen's restaurant the day (or thereabouts) after the crap hit the fan. I really don't believe the photographer requested all the obese people to line up at front (it appears to be the front of the line). Those just happened to the be people who were there. How does that make the NYTimes writers / photographers hypocrites?

I did read it and thought it was fair. My comment was to the originally poster who was having a laugh at the plus-sized diners. I referenced the restaurants in Harlem reviewed by the NYT because the patrons look exactly the same, yet are imbibing in a holy communion of Southern food, not an artery-clogging heart attack on a platter with a side of Type 2 Diabetes.

[rotuts]

was having a laugh at the plus-sized

no i wasnt. I fell sorry for plus-sized +. it just seems like visit like.

[weinoo]

Thanks, Mike. I was going to address that very point. I guess if Paula had been a heroin addict, it'd all be good.

Your sensitive ears and eyes notwithstanding, what point exactly? Did Bourdain hide the fact that he was at one point addicted to drugs (and even at that point could still run a successful kitchen) the way Deen hid her illness? Did Bourdain try to get his customers addicted to H the way Deen kept foisting god-knows-what calorie-laden glop on her customers and viewers? And did Bourdain then shill for methadone?

[annabelle]

Not that I'm aware of Mitch. Has anyone lambasted Tony for the mean things he's said about women and gays?

[annabelle]

was having a laugh at the plus-sized

no i wasnt. I fell sorry for plus-sized +. it just seems like visit like.

It wasn't you, rotuts. It was Katie Meadow.

[David Ross]

Smithfield drops out:

http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/gaming/paula-deen-re-scheduled-for-today-on-wednesday/nYSyW/

Rainbow/PUSH Coalition drops in:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/23/paula-deen-scandal-continues-employees-tell-rainbow-push-alleged-discrimination_n_3484607.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

[SylviaLovegren]

This is a piece from Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic that sums up the problem with what Paula Deen said, very well, I think. He calls it "guileless, accidental racism" and that seems just right.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/the-guileless-accidental-racism-of-paula-deen/277153/#disqus_thread

[SobaAddict70]

Yes, we learned all about it in school. And endless documentaries on television. There were many blacks who owned slaves back in the day, including Michelle Obama's family of origin. That was all over 150 years ago. Uncomfortable facts exist in all of our histories. Blaming an old woman for using a common word (and I do mean common, as in we didn't do that in my family) was the result of her relating an incident of being held at gunpoint by a black man.

People need to stop getting their dresses over their heads about stuff like this or at least be consistent and refuse to listen to rap music or watch Quentin Tarantino movies.

There's a big difference between the co-owner of a business using inappropriate language in the workplace especially when communicating with her subordinates and colleagues, and having the same kind of language in a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Also, this isn't because of some remark she made 40 years ago, but due to alleged racial discrimination, sexual harassment and violent behavior stemming from a pattern of incidents that allegedly occurred between 2005 and 2010.

Now, it may be that plaintiff's allegations are unproven; however this excerpt from one of the court documents makes for some very interesting reading.

"Mr. Hiers has now admitted his offensive and derogatory use of the word "n_____" in the work place (Exhibit K: Hiers Dep., p. 52), conduct which he stated he has only begun to regret during this lawsuit (Id., p. 190). Mr. Hiers admitted telling a “joke” in which he referred to the President of the United States as a “n______”; he has admitted watching pornography on several different computers at work (and at home) and letting kitchen employees take the fall on at least one occasion ( Id., pp. 62-66); he has admitted that viewing pornography was sometimes the first thing he did when he got to work in the morning (Id., pp. 161-162); he has both admitted and denied his alcohol addiction, testifying that he spent 30 days in rehabilitation for alcohol and cocaine addiction, yet denying that he has ever believed that he had an alcohol problem. ( Id., p. 10-13). Mr. Hiers has admitted his extraordinary present consumption of alcohol, with his home consumption constituting a gallon and a half of Jack Daniels every month, in addition to what he drinks in the restaurant. (Id., pp., 14, 19-20). He has admitted to being a thief, stealing $30,000 from his own sister, a theft which he had no intention of revealing, until he got caught by Ms. Jackson, who reported it to the corporate CPA, Karl Schumacher. ( Id., pp. 85-87)."

For reference, Mr. Hiers is Earl Hiers, PD's brother and a 49% owner of one of the companies in the lawsuit that they both own that's being sued.

Source: http://goo.gl/IknkV

[annabelle]

I have read it the deposition. I am not defending Ms. Deen's use of indecorous language, I am saying the punishment is unequal to the crime.

[SobaAddict70]

You know, 60-something isn't what it used to be. Much to my surprise, I seem to have reached 60-something, and I know many 60-something white southern women who wouldn't dream of using the n word. They would be appalled at the idea of a black-slave theme party, as would many African American men and women of the same age.

That remark from her depo concerning a "southern style plantation wedding" was from 2007.

Many people seem to think that her 'apology' was from some off-hand comment from 20+ years ago, when in fact, it's more likely that it's been an ongoing thing.