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| Photo - Paula's Twitter |
- On Wednesday June 19th, the National Enquirer ran a story saying they had video of Paula Deen's legal deposition from May 17th and it had her "racist confessions."
- After that story broke on Wednesday, other news agencies got their hands on the deposition and started writing stories such as "Paula Deen admits using the N-Word and telling Racist Jokes," where they picked select pieces of the deposition and didn't provide full context to make it sound juicier.
- People on Twitter had a field day with it and started mocking her by naming racist dishes with the hashtag #PaulasBestDishes. Eater has screenshots of some, or you can scroll through the top ones on Twitter.
- The FULL transcript of the deposition came out later on Wednesday, which had the full interview between Paula Deen and a lawyer where she admits to using the N-word in jokes, etc. The transcript is below if you want to read through it.
6/26/2013 - Added the Plaintiff, Lisa T. Jackson's Deposition, as no one seems to have that side of the story:
- Late Wednesday, the Food Network issued a statement, which said "Food Network does not tolerate any form of discrimination and is a strong proponent of diversity and inclusion. We will continue to monitor the situation."
- On Wednesday, Paula Deen's lawyers their first statement to US Weekly, which said, "Contrary to media reports, Ms. Deen does not condone or find the use of racial epithets acceptable. She is looking forward to her day in court."
- On Thursday, Paula Deen's lawyers released another statement to People, which said "During a deposition where she swore to tell the truth, Ms. Deen recounted having used a racial epithet in the past, speaking largely about a time in American history which was quite different than today. She was born 60 years ago, when America's South had schools that were segregated, different bathrooms, different restaurants and Americans rode in different parts of the bus. This is not today." The statement goes on: "To be clear Ms. Deen does not find acceptable the use of this term under any circumstance by anyone nor condone any form of racism or discrimination."
- Friday Morning June 21st - Paula is scheduled to appear on the Today show, but bails due to supposed 'exhaustion,' leaving Matt Lauer 'confused.' - Story
- Friday June 21st around 9am - Paula announces that she will release a video statement, and that it will be out shortly.
- Friday June 21st - Paula releases a heavily edited 46 second video begging for forgiveness, which is below:
UPDATE - Paula released another video with the message "After spending all day soul searching and trying to figure out how to deal with what I did, I recorded a video trying to do the right thing. In the end, Ifelt that I needed to just be myself, say I am sorry and beg for frogiveness.
What said was wrong and hurtful. I know that and will do everything that I can do make it right. I am not about hate, and I will devote myself to showing my family, friends and fans how to live a life helping others, lifting us all up, and spreading love.
Paula"
It is 1 minute and 57 seconds and is below:
UPDATE 6/21/2013 5PM - Apparently Food Network is dropping Paula Deen when her contract expires at the end of the month. Quote from a Food Network Spokesman, "Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract when it expires at the end of this month."
6/22/2013 - Paula's Best Dishes is scheduled to air at 9:00am, but is removed by the Food Network.
6/22/2013 - Paula issued a statement to People thanking the Food Network, which said, "I have had the pleasure of being allowed into so many homes across the country and meeting people who have shared with me the most touching and personal stories. This would not have been possible without the Food Network. Thank you again. Love and best dishes to all of ya'll."
6/23/2013 - QVC is contemplating dropping Paula Deen, but no official word yet.
6/24/2013 - The Today show said that Paula Deen will be appearing on the show Wednesday with an interview from Matt Lauer.
6/24/2013 - Smithfield Foods terminates their contract with Paula Deen, stating: "Smithfield condemns the use of offensive and discriminatory language and behavior of any kind. Therefore, we are terminating our partnership with Paula Deen. Smithfield is determined to be an ethical food industry leader and it is important that our values and those of our spokespeople are properly aligned."
6/25/2013 - Jamie and Bobby Deen appear on CNN defending their mother and stated: " We were raised in a family with love and of faith and a house where God lived. And neither one of our parents ever taught us to be bigoted towards any other person for any reason and this is so saddening to me because our mother is one of the most compassionate, good hearted, empathetic people that you’d ever meet. And these accusations are very hurtful to her and it’s very sad. And frankly, I’m disgusted by the entire thing because it began as extortion and it has become character assassination….” Link to Video Interview.
6/26/2013 7:30am - Paula appears on the Today show for an interview with Matt Lauer. The interview is just over 13 minutes and video and details of interview can be found here.
6/26/2013 - Caesars Entertainment Corporation announced they will "not renew the corporation's business relationship with Paula Deen Enterprises." Paula has 4 buffet restaurants in casinos with the corporation, and all will be closing. Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino, which has one of the restaurants stated, "In light of today's announcement regarding Caesar Entertainment Corporation and Paula Deen Enterprises mutual decision to not renew the two companies business relationship, Horseshoe Southern Indiana will announce plans for a new buffet in the near future."
6/26/2013 4:00pm - Walmart has ended its relationship with Paula Deen. A statement said: "We are ending our relationship with Paula Deen Enterprises and we will not place new orders beyond those already committed...We will work with suppliers to address existing inventories and agreements."
6/26/2013 7:00pm - Home Depot says it will stop carrying Paula Deen branded items in their kitchen and cookware category and has taken those items off of its website.
6/27/2013 9:30am - Novo Nordisk mutually agreed to suspend patient education activities for now and released a statement: "Novo Nordisk and Paula Deen have mutually agreed to suspend our patient education activities for now, while she takes time to focus her attention where it is needed. Novo Nordisk would like to acknowledge Paula's involvement in our Diabetes in a New Light™ campaign, where she has helped make many people aware of type 2 diabetes and the lifestyle changes needed to control this serious disease."
6/27/2013 12:00pm - Target says they will stop selling Paula Deen branded items once sold out. Their statement says: "We have made a decision to phase out the Paula Deen merchandise in our stores as well as on Target.com. Once the merchandise is sold out, we will not be replenishing inventory."
6/27/2013 - Paula Deen's Ex-Husband gives an interview to the Albany Herald (their hometown), criticizing the media and Lisa Jackson.
6/28/2013 11:00am - Sears and Kmart say they will stop carrying Paula Deen branded items. Their statement said: "After careful consideration of all available information, we have made the decision to phase out all products tied to the brand."
6/28/2013 11:00am - Walgreens say they will "phase out" Paula Deen products. Walgreens also owns Duane Reade and Drugstore.com.
6/28/2013 2:00pm - J.C. Penney has decided to stop selling Paula Deen merchandise. J.C. Penney also plans to remove her products from JCP.com over the weekend.
6/28/2013 5:30pm - Despite being #1 on Amazon's Best Seller list, Ballantine Books announced it has cancelled the publication of Paula Deen's New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up
, which was scheduled to be released in October. 7/2/2013 - Lisa Jackson, the woman suing Paula Deen released a statement to Today, which said, "I may be a white woman, but I could no longer tolerate her abuse of power as a business owner, nor her condonation of Mr. Hier’s despicable behavior on a day-to-day basis. I am what I am, and I am a human being that cares about discrimination in the workplace. In part, in this circumstance, I have to be a voice for those who are too afraid to use theirs."
7/4/2013 - Paula Deen fired her longtime agent Barry Weiner. A statement from her spokeswoman: "Paula Deen has separated from her agent. She and her family thank him for the tireless effort and dedication over the many years.”
7/5/2013 - FBI agents arrested a man who tried to extort $250,000 out of Paula Deen who claimed he had "true and damning" information about Paula and wanted to be paid to be quiet.
7/11/2013 - Paula Deen fires her original lawyers, and hires a high powered law firm with a lot of experience with wrongful termination and other employment issues.
7/25/2013 - Paula Deen's longtime cook Dora Charles thinks she was not treated fairly by Paula in a story in NY Times. Paula Deen denies these claims.
7/26/2013 - Paula Deen denies that she paid Dora Charles $10 an hour, and claims she received a $70,000 a year salary plus profit sharing and benefits. (ET Online)
8/12/2013 - A federal judge dismisses the racial claims in the lawsuit, however a few issues in the suit are still pending. (Savannah Now)
8/23/2013 - The lawsuit is dismissed after a settlement was made:
9/14/2013 - Paula Deen makes her first public appearance at the Houston Metro Cooking Show, and is greeting with a standing ovation. She sheds some tears and thanks the crowd for the support.
9/17/2013 - The man who tried to extort Paula Deen was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
What are your thoughts on the whole situation?
I will keep this post updated with any of the newest updates regarding this scandal.