The Real Paula Deen

Let me just say, I have personal experience with the some of the VPs at Smithfield(and their subsidiary Farmland), and it is no stretch to call this decision hypocritical.

Bear in mind, my use of the "old dinosaur" explanation was to say "Well, what did you expect from her?" rather than "Oh, just ignore her, it's just how she is". I was not excusing, just explaining. Her attitudes are familiar to me and what I would have suspected even if this hadn't come up.

SallyNasty wrote:

Let me just say, I have personal experience with the some of the VPs at Smithfield(and their subsidiary Farmland), and it is no stretch to call this decision hypocritical.

But those VPs aren't on the side of their package, and Paula Deen is. There's a difference between an employee of a company and the public face of a company. Smithfield are controlling their public face, whatever the private attitudes of their corporate hierarchy might be.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

Let me just say, I have personal experience with the some of the VPs at Smithfield(and their subsidiary Farmland), and it is no stretch to call this decision hypocritical.

But those VPs aren't on the side of their package, and Paula Deen is. There's a difference between an employee of a company and the public face of a company. Smithfield are controlling their public face, whatever the private attitudes of their corporate hierarchy might be.

Oh, sure I get that - but trust me, the first time those guys heard the N-word was not out of Paula Deen's mouth.

SallyNasty wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

Let me just say, I have personal experience with the some of the VPs at Smithfield(and their subsidiary Farmland), and it is no stretch to call this decision hypocritical.

But those VPs aren't on the side of their package, and Paula Deen is. There's a difference between an employee of a company and the public face of a company. Smithfield are controlling their public face, whatever the private attitudes of their corporate hierarchy might be.

Oh, sure I get that - but trust me, the first time those guys heard the N-word was not out of Paula Deen's mouth.

Those slack-jawed yokels at Shuanghui need to get with the 21st century.

Funkenpants wrote:

She views pornography as something that men like to watch and share (and she seems pretty frank and libertine about sexual matters)

Butter, y'all.

Also: I may never eat again.

EDIT: Tag magic jazz hands!

SallyNasty wrote:

Let me just say, I have personal experience with the some of the VPs at Smithfield(and their subsidiary Farmland), and it is no stretch to call this decision hypocritical.

Speaking of which, I was promised bacon.

Tanglebones wrote:

An open letter to Paula Deen

A lot in there I agree with in lieu of the fact I'm a White male from the North.

You know, it would go a long way for her to have some humble pie, educate herself and give back by attending that event mentioned in the Open Letter.

If her publicist isn't on this, they are missing a pretty incredible opportunity.

Hell, I would love to go to it. It sounds fascinating. (and delicious)

I was surprised and oddly delighted that Paula Deen was a frequent subject of camp.

This guy reveals a fascinating biography over the course of the letter. I almost expected him to whip out a disability toward the end.

Funkenpants wrote:

Paula hid her diagnosis for three years

Link.

Oh, snap.

As for the psychology of it, I suspect she's more buffered than most younger celebrities: she probably isn't in the tweeterverse, and like Eric Rudolph, she can retreat to the comforting bosom of clan in Georgia.

If I were her, though, and Wilford Brimley called me out... I'd kill myself.

As a matter of psychology, you have to wonder what it's like to go from being the subject of widespread acclaim to worldwide revulsion in the course of a day and a half. That's got to involve some serious mental stress.

I've always disliked Deen because her chosen style of food is the last thing America needs in the age of obesity, and this episode from a year or two ago didn't help:

Chef and television personality Paula Deen was blindsided by the public backlash following the announcement that she has type 2 diabetes. But what has the butter-loving star shocked more than anything? None of her famous foodie friends have shown her one ounce of support.

Yet some believe that other chefs have remained silent because Deen kept quiet about her illness for years. "The amount of chefs that would have come forward with public statements of support and sympathy would have been overwhelming if it wasn't for the fact that Paula hid her diagnosis for three years," a top food publicist tells me. "To only tell the truth when you have locked in a paid spokesperson deal for a non-insulin medication is just too toxic for anyone to want to be involved with."

Link. On the other hand, she had a compelling life story about being a single Mom who built her own business empire. So I can see why the media loved her.

H.P. Lovesauce wrote:

As for the psychology of it, I suspect she's more buffered than most younger celebrities: she probably isn't in the tweeterverse, and like Eric Rudolph, she can retreat to the comforting bosom of clan in Georgia.

I agree. She doesn't understand how social media has changed the speed at which you can go from hero to villain in the modern world. After reading her deposition, I don't think she understood the corporate risks involved with letting her brother and managers run their business cracker-style. Like many successful people (racist or non-racist), she needed to build some walls between her and her family so their antics wouldn't open her business interests to a threat.

A corporate boardroom might be filled with closet-racists, but racist CEOs tend to know how to hide those feelings to avoid successful lawsuits and bad publicity.

Considering how inflammatory her deposition was, I think she has a solid case to make for legal malpractice.

Even the most incompetent lawyer with a mail order degree from Bob Jones University could have told her to shut her damned mouth.

Anne Rice (remember her?) supports Paula Deen:

Rice first posed the question to her readers by saying: "What's happening with Paula Dean? Is it fair? I never heard of her until today, and wow, this looks like a crucifixion. Opinions, thoughts welcome....aren't we becoming something of a lynch mob culture?"

Yep, she said it.

Nevin73 wrote:

Anne Rice (remember her?) supports Paula Deen:

Rice first posed the question to her readers by saying: "What's happening with Paula Dean? Is it fair? I never heard of her until today, and wow, this looks like a crucifixion. Opinions, thoughts welcome....aren't we becoming something of a lynch mob culture?"

Yep, she said it.

So having never heard of her, why are you commenting on her legal and public relations trouble? *rolls eyes*

Also, incredibly poor choice of words from her about it (the same thing I've said about most of her writing, just a long string of poor choices of words being put together :P). Punishing wrong behavior is a form of behavior correction, and the kind more likely to make news, like it or not. As a public figure, everything is magnified and escalated more.

Nevin73 wrote:

Anne Rice (remember her?)

No, should I?

More importantly, I am not in the mood to picture Ms. Dean stripped nude and flogged for a mile while she is hung naked by her wrists on a hill for a week.

This is the second time this week I have heard crucifixion used this way. We really need better reading standards.

KingGorilla wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

Anne Rice (remember her?)

No, should I?

More importantly, I am not in the mood to picture Ms. Dean stripped nude and flogged for a mile while she is hung naked by her wrists on a hill for a week.

Yeah. When priviledged, Southern white folk complain about being "lynch mobbed" for racism, it just makes me think of the sort of temerity necessary for a Bavarian to call a Jew a nazi.

Paleocon wrote:

Considering how inflammatory her deposition was, I think she has a solid case to make for legal malpractice.

Even the most incompetent lawyer with a mail order degree from Bob Jones University could have told her to shut her damned mouth.

That can get tricky. There are limits on when an attorney can instruct a client not to answer during a deposition. Oddly enough, I'm not sure her answers will eventually be a problem for her as part of the litigation. But obviously they raised a huge PR problem. Even if the racial discrimination claim is a loser, including it in the complaint allowed the plaintiff's lawyer to ask her race-related questions about the alleged treatment of black people in her restaurants. He knew he could toss the transcript to the press if she didn't settle.

We also don't know if Deen's lawyers suggested a settlement to avoid bad publicity. Deen might have refused thinking that all the allegations were untrue and nobody would ever think she's a racist. Clients can be their own worst enemies in litigation.

Paula Deen made a dramatic appearance on the Today show this morning in a last-ditch attempt to save her career in the wake of her racism scandal. The disgraced chef sobbed as she claimed 'very hurtful lies' had destroyed her reputation and insisted that she had only used the n-word once - something she deeply regretted.

She added that she believed she should not have been dropped as a representative for Food Network and Smithfield and that other partners 'who know who I am' have stood beside her. 'I is what I is, and I'm not changing,' she sobbed. 'If there's anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back, please pick up a rock and throw it so hard at my head that it kills me. I want to meet you.'

So she's doubling down on the "the plaintiff is a liar" defense. Link (warning- it's from the Daily Mail, so don't click it if you don't like the tabloids).

Funkenpants wrote:

The disgraced chef sobbed as she claimed 'very hurtful lies' had destroyed her reputation and insisted that she had only used the n-word once - something she deeply regretted.

Only once?

There's a two-word phrase--one that communicates doubt, disapproval, or disdain towards another--that seems appropriate here. And Deen clearly knows both words.

OG_slinger wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

The disgraced chef sobbed as she claimed 'very hurtful lies' had destroyed her reputation and insisted that she had only used the n-word once - something she deeply regretted.

Only once?

There's a two-word phrase--one that communicates doubt, disapproval, or disdain towards another--that seems appropriate here. And Deen clearly knows both words.

Is the second word "please"?

OG_slinger wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

The disgraced chef sobbed as she claimed 'very hurtful lies' had destroyed her reputation and insisted that she had only used the n-word once - something she deeply regretted.

Only once?

It's possible that she hasn't used it in a long time. My mom grew up in an age of segregation in Maryland, and yet I've never heard her use the word even though she probably used it at least occasionally in the old days when everyone around her was using it.

Also, You don't have to talk like a racist to be racist. Deen might be one of those people who never use the word but still view black people as pleasant but best kept in subservient positions.

Nevin73 wrote:
OG_slinger wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

The disgraced chef sobbed as she claimed 'very hurtful lies' had destroyed her reputation and insisted that she had only used the n-word once - something she deeply regretted.

Only once?

There's a two-word phrase--one that communicates doubt, disapproval, or disdain towards another--that seems appropriate here. And Deen clearly knows both words.

Is the second word "please"?

I believe that's the pop culture phrase white people think but never say. Sort of like how you can't sing along to some hip hop with the windows open.

Funkenpants wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:
OG_slinger wrote:
Funkenpants wrote:

The disgraced chef sobbed as she claimed 'very hurtful lies' had destroyed her reputation and insisted that she had only used the n-word once - something she deeply regretted.

Only once?

There's a two-word phrase--one that communicates doubt, disapproval, or disdain towards another--that seems appropriate here. And Deen clearly knows both words.

Is the second word "please"?

I believe that's the pop culture phrase white people think but never say. Sort of like how you can't sing along to some hip hop with the windows open.

NSFW language.

Funkenpants wrote:

So she's doubling down on the "the plaintiff is a liar" defense. Link (warning- it's from the Daily Mail, so don't click it if you don't like the tabloids).

*Hugs Funkenpants*

Can't butter this, can she? Good!

But really, I've said racist, homophobic stuff in the past and meant it. I don't think that way now, but it would suck to have that haunt me for the rest of my life because no one would accept the new me.

ZaneRockfist wrote:

Can't butter this, can she? Good!

But really, I've said racist, homophobic stuff in the past and meant it. I don't think that way now, but it would suck to have that haunt me for the rest of my life because no one would accept the new me.

Well given the alleged situation she was allowing to continue in her restaurant, I think at least part of her proof that she is a different person would be firing him, if that hasn't happened already... if it has, proclaim that to the world... and also get a better publicist.

Right. Assuming for a hypothetical that she's only suconsciously racist, her problem stems from her desire to help her brother. If she had hired pro management and pushed him out, she wouldn't be looking at millions of dollars in lost income from lost contracts. Instead she pulled him closer.