The rise and fall of Paula Deen

[Catherine Iino]

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.

[gfweb]

I have to think food network wanted to be rid of her and took advantage of an opportunity. <br /><br />Re her offense...whether or not you see it as serious , the fact that she was stupid enough to let it happen is damning. She cannot be very bright esp after the twitter-wrath that followed her pharma adventure.<br />

Edited June 22, 2013 by gfweb (log)

[sigma]

When Americans see the Confederate flag in the same way Germans look at the Nazi flag -- as an ugly symbol of oppression -- them I'll truly believe we are finally moving on.

>>

I'm not about repressing anyone's First Amendment rights, now matter how much I disagree with them, thanks.

I'm confused. Who was talking about repressing anyone's 1st amendment rights?

You were. You said people should not fly the Confederate flag and called it analogous to Nazi Germany.

I understand the First Amendment just fine, thanks.

Can you please explain where any suggestion of the government banning someone's right to free speech was made? The first amendment does not protect you from people thinking you are a vile human being for expressing controversial views, it only protects you from government persecution.

Well, flying the Nazi flag in Germany is illegal, so it would not be surprising for somebody to see a Nazi flag flying and think "that person is going to be fined, and perhaps go to jail."

Not saying this was Annabelle's point, but the person who first made the statement didn't take into account the various legal strictures on speech in Germany and throughout Europe, so the door was certainly open for the interpretation. That's not even to get into the different historical and cultural context of the oppressions at hand or the current politically correct ways "the Jews ruined the world" has been reworked for public consumption in Germany and other collaborating nations, so the comment was lame on its face and quibbling about definitions of speech protection probably isn't worth the time.

Edited June 22, 2013 by sigma (log)

[Twyst]

Well, flying the Nazi flag in Germany is illegal, so it would not be surprising for somebody to see a Nazi flag flying and think "that person is going to be fined, and perhaps go to jail."

Not saying this was Annabelle's point, but the person who first made the statement didn't take into account the various legal strictures on speech in Germany and throughout Europe, so the door was certainly open for the interpretation.

We'll have to agree to disagree as the original statement wasn't that we should treat the confederate flag as the germans treat the nazi flag, only that we should see it the same way -- "as an ugly symbol of oppression."

quibbling about definitions of speech protection probably isn't worth the time.

Protected speech is really at the heart of this matter though considering this woman is being punished for expressing her opinions. I actually think it's very relevant and am astonished at the number of people that scream "first amendment" when the first amendment clearly does not apply. It is every person's right to fly the confederate flag if they wish, but the first amendment does not protect the individuals who choose to from a huge chunk of society labeling them as disgusting racists for doing so.

Edited June 22, 2013 by Twyst (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

Well, flying the Nazi flag in Germany is illegal, so it would not be surprising for somebody to see a Nazi flag flying and think "that person is going to be fined, and perhaps go to jail."

Not saying this was Annabelle's point, but the person who first made the statement didn't take into account the various legal strictures on speech in Germany and throughout Europe, so the door was certainly open for the interpretation.

We'll have to agree to disagree as the original statement wasn't that we should treat the confederate flag as the germans treat the nazi flag, only that we should see it the same way -- "as an ugly symbol of oppression."

quibbling about definitions of speech protection probably isn't worth the time.

Protected speech is really at the heart of this matter though considering this woman is being punished for expressing her opinions. I actually think it's very relevant and am astonished at the number of people that scream "first amendment" when the first amendment clearly does not apply. It is every person's right to fly the confederate flag if they wish, but the first amendment does not protect the individuals who choose to from a huge chunk of society labeling them as disgusting racists for doing so.

Thank you. That's exactly what I meant.

[GlorifiedRice]

OMG people dont get the 1st Amendment!

Paula isnt getting arrested and thrown in jail, she is however getting fired...

There is a difference between COURT OF LAW and COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION...

1st Amendment doesnt protect you from getting angry hoards of ppl after you or being fired (especially if you have a morality clause in your contract)

What Paula was doing wasnt an "opinion". Opinions are "I dont like those red drapes" or "I think letting your son dress in Emo style is bad parenting"

Paula was DISCRIMINATING AGAINST A RACE OF PEOPLE...And that is never okay...

Edited June 22, 2013 by GlorifiedRice (log)

[David Ross]

I too have a history in television, having appeared on both PBS and local television cooking programs over the course of many years, so I take a keen interest in issues concerning cooking and the media. I want it be about sharing a common passion for food and cooking. My viewers expect it. While I am far, far away from the celebrity status of Paula Deen, I am acutely aware of how the public views someone who appears on television. When you step into the public realm, you have to understand that people will hold you to a high standard just as they should. In my view, it's not a matter of trying to justify the behavior, it's standing up once and for all and saying that it has to stop. It should have stopped way before Don Imus used derogatory language to describe the Rutgers University Women's basketball team, yet here we are with Paula Deen using cruel language to mock African Americans. We deserve better.

With the exception of PBS, (which isn't primarily driven by profits), Food Network is a commercial venture and they retain the right to terminate the contract of any personality that in their view has damaged the brand. The brand is the impetus of what drives ratings, which in turn brings in revenue the more the viewer supports the brand. Yet more importantly, in my opinion Food Network did something I applaud them for--standing up for what should be intolerable at all levels of society. Something bigger than the brand of Paula Deen.

[sigma]

Correct me if I am wrong, but what we know is that she admitted to using a certain word at an earlier time in her life. Anything else is the accusation of the plaintiff in an unsettled case. You people are assuming it is true when there is no reason to, and there is every reason to be skeptical of it. If the facts have changed, I am all ears.

[GlorifiedRice]

Correct me if I am wrong, but what we know is that she admitted to using a certain word at an earlier time in her life. Anything else is the accusation of the plaintiff in an unsettled case. You people are assuming it is true when there is no reason to, and there is every reason to be skeptical of it. If the facts have changed, I am all ears.

Court transcripts

http://redcowhills.com/Paula-Deen-Racist-Court-Transcripts-redcowhills.pdf

Paula saying she wanted to make a Sambo Burger (2006)

http://www.alan.com/2013/06/21/paula-deen-once-wanted-to-make-a-sambo-burger/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+liberaland+%28Alan+Colmes+Liberaland%29

[sigma]

And so your answer is no? Read what "David Ross" assumes to be fact in his unreadable posts and tell me how they relate to the transcript and Alan Colmes piece. Look, I think she is a piece of shit, but I think stupidity is also a crime against humanity, and there is a lot of it on this thread and in the reaction to her.

[GlorifiedRice]

Sigma this is my opinion only okay...

People are sick and tired!

Tired of terror, tired of TSA agents touching their junk, tired of fracking, tired of lies, tired of flipping the datgum tv remote thru all 500000000 channels searching for something educational or soothing to watch on tv and only finding the Kardashians and scary news.

So a lot of us are just watching cooking shows, they are supposed to be fun, entertaining and unscary...

But now that Paulas closet opened up and we see the white sheets its not soothing and fun anymore so she needs to go...

And in this day and age of people getting away with murder and corporate greed its nice to see someone get held accountable for something.

Edited June 22, 2013 by GlorifiedRice (log)

[sigma]

I guess it always comes back to corporate greed in the end.

[Jaymes]

I guess it always comes back to corporate greed in the end.

Yes. And that greedy corporation workforce that always demands a paycheck in the end.

[Lisa Shock]

I really think that her age cannot be used as an excuse. I am over 50, and recall being a small child and hearing my dad talk about his childhood. He told me about going to the grocery store with his mother in the early 1930s and seeing the word in question used on a sign as a descriptor (paired with the name of a body part) for a type of south american nut. His mother, who was born in 1900, complained to the store manager and made certain that he knew, in no uncertain terms, that this was a word that a civilized person would simply never use.

[Ashen]

I know it doesn't matter to anyone who isn't a pedant but she wasn't fired for this, her contract was not renewed. The difference is minimal to most people but fairly large from a legal standpoint.

As to that whole sambo burger debacle, that is apparently another case of her being oblivious according to her own book ... The actual name for the burger was to be the combination of two names relating to the burger she was creating Sam and Beau. The name of the person who cooked the burger and the person who told her about going to the restaurant that made it. I will leave it up to each person to decide if that was a revisionist story to explain away the incident or actual obliviousness.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/paula-deen-sambo-burger.php

The fact that she was truthful about saying the n word in a court deposition , with the back story of relating to her husband about having a gun held to her head in a bank robbery is what most of this is based on. As far as I know she didn't run around spouting it off and telling racist jokes randomly. That being said, what a person may say when upset and under stress is often the truth of their feelings.

[Lisa Shock]

I know it doesn't matter to anyone who isn't a pedant but she wasn't fired for this, her contract was not renewed. The difference is minimal to most people but fairly large from a legal standpoint.

As to that whole sambo burger debacle, that is apparently another case of her being oblivious according to her own book ... The actual name for the burger was to be the combination of two names relating to the burger she was creating Sam and Beau. The name of the person who cooked the burger and the person who told her about going to the restaurant that made it. I will leave it up to each person to decide if that was a revisionist story to explain away the incident or actual obliviousness.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/06/paula-deen-sambo-burger.php

The fact that she was truthful about saying the n word in a court deposition , with the back story of relating to her husband about having a gun held to her head in a bank robbery is what most of this is based on. As far as I know she didn't run around spouting it off and telling racist jokes randomly. That being said, what a person may say when upset and under stress is often the truth of their feelings.

A lot of the uproar is about her describing in loving detail her plans for a slavery themed wedding in 2004.

[Broken English]

I think Bill Maher makes a great point. One of the panelists on Real Time said that people in the public eye should be blacklisted for using the word, and Maher replied by asking if we should ban rap records because of the frequent use of the term.

Making it more complicated is that there remains a deep undercurrent of racism in most societies, so is it fair to crucify someone should the term slip out? I'm not defending the use of the word per se, but the end result seems harsh considering that Trey Parker and Matt Stone were able to build an entire episode of South Park around the term, which was used dozens of times in the episode. I know that they were using it within satire, but that doesn't stop the word from being said.

In short, it's not a word I like to hear in any context because of the negative stereotypes and connotations it conjures, but to drag down a career seems like overkill.

[dcarch]

Human civilization is very advanced because we have the ability to generalize. Science is all about generalization.

When generalization becomes prejudice, stereo typing perhaps is the question.

Is it racist to say African Americans generally have darker skin? Koreans operate many green groceries? Indians dominate newsstand businesses?

Was it right that Jimmy The Greek was fired (1998?) by CBS for what he said, in private? And Paula Deen used the N word in her bedroom with her husband in 2013?

Those are my questions, not my opinions.

dcarch

[weinoo]

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.

[lindag]

I believe Paula Dean is a bigot, a racist and a pig.

I do think she finally got her comeuppance.

She will not be missed by me.

[GlorifiedRice]

Okay I wasnt gonna comment further on this subject cause I think we may be going into some bad territory

BUT

This is not JUST about Paula Deen using the N word YEARS ago to her ex hubby James Deen Sr.

This is about her frequent use of it and her "Of course I used it" attitude amd her wanting to have a Sambo burger and her wanting to have a SLAVE theme at a wedding and her racial comments about a BLACK FRIEND and I quote

"I Have a Black Friend — and He's "Black as a Board"

"Come out here Hollis. We can’t see you standing against that dark board."

It is her ongoing line of insensitive racist remarks that has her in hot water.

These are things I dont say...They are racist comments and they should not be tolerated ANYWHERE

[IndyRob]

Paula Deen may have revealed herself as the poster child for the racially insensitive, but I think it would be wrong to ascribe any malice to her motivations. She isn't alone in having an overly romanticized view of antebellum plantation life. Did anyone catch the latest episode of Chef Roble & Co.? Phaedra Parks' method of choosing servers may not be racist, but....

Of course, as a commercial concern, The Food Network has no choice but to show her the door. They can't risk damaging their brand, or those of their advertisers like, um... Aunt Jemima or Uncle Ben's

[rotuts]

Paula has just proved that honesty in a deposition, isn't the best policy.

in the long term it actually is. Im sure who ever this person really is, she made something of herself and passed some of that on to her family. Im sure she is somewhat relieved.

she will take some time off, and get right back on the Wagon. She is what she is, and has apologized. find a single professional professional politician that would do the same as they snarf it up in the hog trough.

doesn't mean Id probably enjoy having lunch with her, but who knows?

now those politicians, well ....

[Jaymes]

I'm just wondering if this means there's an opening at the Food Network for a loud, 60-something, plump Southern woman with a fondness for butter.

Because if so....

[rotuts]

butter with lots and lots of sugar mixed in ...... Lots.

one of the last shows of her's I saw was years ago and it was her version of 'bread pudding'

it involved lots of krispy-creme glazed donuts for the bread. a can of fruit cocktail with heavy syrup for the fruit ( she insisted you look for heavy syrup ), and a ton and a half of topping that was powdered sugar, butter, and probably bourbon.

I kept the clip and the Rx and though someday Id make this.

your pancreas' ... dream or nightmare. This would for sure give your Islets a run for their money haven't gotten around to this, but she sure did enjoy snarfing it up.

Edited June 23, 2013 by rotuts (log)