this week ten years ago, paula deen was dropped by more than a dozen companies after admitting to using the n-word and asking black employees to dress up as slaves:
and qvc, who at first said that they were "monitoring" the situation, was next on the chopping block.
"paula won't be appearing on any upcoming broadcasts and we will phase out her product assortment on our online sales channels," announced ceo mike george in a blog post.
"paula won't be appearing on any upcoming broadcasts and we will phase out her product assortment on our online sales channels," announced ceo mike george in a blog post.
but the embattled deen wasn't without her supporters, many of whom took to facebook to defend the disgraced chef and rail against the companies who dropped her:
a "support paula deen" facebook page amassed hundreds of thousands of likes within days, and supporters lined up outside deen's georgia restaurant in solidarity with the chef, according to the new york times:
pre-orders for deen's upcoming cookbook, "paula deen's new testament," skyrocketed on amazon - though the book's publisher, random house, would soon cancel the release altogether:
others took to mailing butter wrappers to the companies who dropped deen as part of a "butter for paula" campaign:
and a "black people for paula" website cropped up amid the chaos, promising a demonstration in times square in support of the shamed chef:
in an interview with cnn, deen's sons, bobby and jamie, slammed the backlash against their mother as "character assassination."
as proof their mother wasn't a bigot, jamie revealed she'd once bought him hank aaron pajamas when he was a kid.
as proof their mother wasn't a bigot, jamie revealed she'd once bought him hank aaron pajamas when he was a kid.
and deen wasn't without a few famous allies.
bill maher slammed the backlash to deen's "one fuck-up" and questioned whether rap records should also be banned:
bill maher slammed the backlash to deen's "one fuck-up" and questioned whether rap records should also be banned:
as did "real housewives" star bethenny frankel:
writer anne rice likened the controversy to a "lynch mob."
"woe to anyone today who is not slender, young, clever and politically correct," rice wrote on facebook.
"woe to anyone today who is not slender, young, clever and politically correct," rice wrote on facebook.
stacey dash chimed in:
al sharpton said deen shouldn't be judged by her past, only the present:
kris jenner sympathized with deen.
"i feel really bad for paula deen right now," jenner told e! news. "the media gets ahold of something and they won't let go."
"i feel really bad for paula deen right now," jenner told e! news. "the media gets ahold of something and they won't let go."
and o.j. simpson, who once dined at deen's restaurant, expressed his support for deen from behind bars.
"[o.j. feels] everybody should have a second chance," simpson's manager told the national enquirer. "[he] doesn't understand what the big deal is with paula using the n-word."
"[o.j. feels] everybody should have a second chance," simpson's manager told the national enquirer. "[he] doesn't understand what the big deal is with paula using the n-word."
former president jimmy carter felt deen was being "overly severely" punished for her "honesty":
glenn beck compared deen to christopher columbus and martin luther king jr.
"how can people advance if we suppress any thought? where would we be if everyone in the world thought in the box?"
"how can people advance if we suppress any thought? where would we be if everyone in the world thought in the box?"
tim allen weighed in.
"i do a movie with martin lawrence and pretty soon they're referring to me, 'hey, my n*****.' so i'm the n***** if i'm around you guys but 7 feet away, if i said n*****, it's not right. it's very confusing to the european mind how that works."
"i do a movie with martin lawrence and pretty soon they're referring to me, 'hey, my n*****.' so i'm the n***** if i'm around you guys but 7 feet away, if i said n*****, it's not right. it's very confusing to the european mind how that works."
and whoopi goldberg suggested deen wasn't a "racist racist."
"she's a product of the environment she grew up in," goldberg reasoned.
"she's a product of the environment she grew up in," goldberg reasoned.
but not everyone was so forgiving.
"your age to me is not an excuse," wendy williams said on her show.
"your age to me is not an excuse," wendy williams said on her show.
vocal deen critic anthony bourdain, who once called deen 'the most dangerous person in america,' opted for a tweet:
giada de laurentiis, whose shows replaced deen's on the food network, refused to take sides.
"everyone on social media wants me [to] stand up for her. the problem is, you need to do your homework first. i don't know what happened so i'm not going to make a comment."
"everyone on social media wants me [to] stand up for her. the problem is, you need to do your homework first. i don't know what happened so i'm not going to make a comment."
oprah was sick of being asked about it:
#PaulasBestDishes trended on twitter:
and hoda kotb wondered if deen's other employees were as happy with deen as she claimed.
"i'd like to actually hear from some of them."
"i'd like to actually hear from some of them."
and, indeed, deen's other employees would eventually speak out about their boss.
sheldon ervin, a former cook at deen's savannah restaurant, alleged deen and her brother often made him and other black employees work overtime and private events, paying them only in beer:
sheldon ervin, a former cook at deen's savannah restaurant, alleged deen and her brother often made him and other black employees work overtime and private events, paying them only in beer:
dora charles, who worked as head chef at one of deen's restaurants, told the new york times that deen underpaid her and once asked her to ring a dinner bell "[like] back in the day."
charles revealed that deen also asked another black employee to dress up as aunt jemima.
charles revealed that deen also asked another black employee to dress up as aunt jemima.
deen's past comments would also come back to haunt her, including a 2012 interview in which deen talked about her slave-owning great great great grandfather's suicide after his "workers" were freed:
in the same interview, deen, when discussing racism, called a black employee - "black as that board" - to the stage:
and deen's own 2007 memoir would come under scrutiny, in particular a passage wherein the chef recounted as a child hitting a black girl with a bolo bat.
when the girl's mother spanked deen, deen's grandfather had the woman jailed:
when the girl's mother spanked deen, deen's grandfather had the woman jailed:
in another excerpt, deen also remembered wanting to name one of her tv recipes the "sambo burger" … until concerned producers talked her out of the idea:
in the months to follow the scandal, the chef would assume a low-profile, axing her longtime agent and lawyer, whom she blamed for her fall from grace:
and as for the lawsuit that set deen's downfall into motion, the two sides would reach a quiet agreement in august, with an undisclosed settlement being reached between the two parties:
in september, deen would reemerge, making an emotional public appearance in houston.
"we all experience pain in some way," a teary-eyed deen told the crowd, "but pain is also a good thing because it makes you grow."
"we all experience pain in some way," a teary-eyed deen told the crowd, "but pain is also a good thing because it makes you grow."
and in 2014, deen would open up about the scandal in an interview with people magazine, comparing herself to the "black football player who recently came out" - referring to michael sam.
"i feel like 'embattled' or 'disgraced' will always follow my name."
"i feel like 'embattled' or 'disgraced' will always follow my name."
also this week in 2013, alec baldwin went on a twitter rampage after the daily mail alleged his wife, hilaria, was tweeting during james gandolfini's funeral.
"you toxic little queen," baldwin tweeted the (male) writer. "i'm gonna fuck you up."
"you toxic little queen," baldwin tweeted the (male) writer. "i'm gonna fuck you up."
accused of homophobia, baldwin issued an apology to GLAAD.
"if homosexuality was an issue for me, i would have moved out of new york years ago," baldwin also told the website gothamist, adding that his use of the word "queen" had nothing to do with sexuality.
"if homosexuality was an issue for me, i would have moved out of new york years ago," baldwin also told the website gothamist, adding that his use of the word "queen" had nothing to do with sexuality.
"almost all of my best friends are gay," hilaria tweeted in her husband's defense. "i would have never married a homophobic man."
al pacino smashed his phone because he got angry at siri:
nick cannon joked about beyonce lip-syncing:
and beyonce fans responded:
armie hammer told playboy that he didn't like to pull his wife's hair during sex because he 'respects her too much':
michael lohan helped check tan mom into rehab:
meanwhile lindsay celebrated her 27th birthday in rehab with her lawyer, shawn holley, and a cake donated by carvel:
and disowned her past work:
la toya jackson recorded a song with rupaul:
rihanna went to amsterdam:
called out a daily mail writer who said she was a "bad role model":
and whacked a fan with a microphone:
"that bitch won't let me go," she wrote on instagram afterwards:
lourdes leon made out with boyfriend timothee chalamet in front of mom madonna:
offended long islanders protested the bravo series "princesses: long island":
after her mom filed for divorce, miley cyrus called out dad billy ray on twitter:
confronted a paparazzo.
"i'm fucking sick, you bitch.”
"i'm fucking sick, you bitch.”
and collabed with khia:
lena dunham and "girls" co-star jemima kirke parodied "we can't stop":
aaron carter got beat up by new kids on the block fans.
"a huge guy approached [carter] in the parking lot and yelled: 'this is the town of the new kids.'"
"a huge guy approached [carter] in the parking lot and yelled: 'this is the town of the new kids.'"
lil wayne apologized for stepping on an american flag in a music video:
jim carrey refused to promote "kick-ass 2" because of the "level of violence":
farrah abraham leaked her text messages with charlie sheen to tmz:
pissed, sheen responded: "please send my number to middle earth and if allowed, eagerly follow it into said abyss and slam the door behind you. the world will collectively sigh as the pungent memory of you vanishes into the pedestrian troposphere of lame-suck and zero-life."
drake was turned away from the miami heat locker room:
aaron hernandez was arrested for murder.
"keep ya head up!!" snoop dogg wrote on instagram.
"keep ya head up!!" snoop dogg wrote on instagram.
avril lavigne got married to chad kroeger:
ashlee simpson started dating diana ross' son, evan:
miss utah tackled the pay gap:
justin bieber banned selena gomez music from playing during a photo shoot:
lost his pet monkey in miami:
and got banned from a skydiving facility for refusing to pay his bill:
abercrombie pulled a "more boyfriends than t.s." shirt after backlash from taylor swift fans:
a judge ordered meek mill to take etiquette classes because of his tweets:
kanye west recreated a scene from "american psycho" with scott disick and jonathan cheban to promote his album "yeezus":
serena williams commented on the steubenville rape case during an interview with rolling stone.
"[the victim] shouldn't have put herself in that position."
"[the victim] shouldn't have put herself in that position."
following backlash, williams claimed her words were taken out of context in a statement posted to her website.
"what was written - what i supposedly said - is insensitive and hurtful."
"what was written - what i supposedly said - is insensitive and hurtful."
the article's writer, however, responded by pointing out the interview was taped, and williams amended her apology.
"i am deeply sorry for my insensitive and misinformed comments."
"i am deeply sorry for my insensitive and misinformed comments."
in the same story, williams also appeared to take a swipe at maria sharapova.
"she begins every interview with 'i'm so happy. i'm so lucky' - it's so boring," williams said of an unnamed player. "she's still not going to be invited to the cool parties."
"she begins every interview with 'i'm so happy. i'm so lucky' - it's so boring," williams said of an unnamed player. "she's still not going to be invited to the cool parties."
again, williams claimed her words were misconstrued.
"[maria] was inadvertently brought into a situation by assumptions made by the reporter … i personally talked to maria and apologized."
"[maria] was inadvertently brought into a situation by assumptions made by the reporter … i personally talked to maria and apologized."
sharapova wasn't quite forgiving.
"if [williams] wants to talk about something personal, she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and getting a divorce and has kids," she told reporters.
"if [williams] wants to talk about something personal, she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and getting a divorce and has kids," she told reporters.
jennifer aniston opened up about eating a big mac.
"it was like putting gasoline in a purified system."
"it was like putting gasoline in a purified system."
police investigated a j. cole fan who threatened to kill his sister for retweets:
lifetime tackled the jodi arias case with the help of evanescence:
half a year after getting engaged via twitter, kat von d and deadmau5 announced their breakup... through various tweets and facebook posts: https://t.co/7NOV5VjS6D
https://twitter.com/pcd2009/status/1611560469038243840?s=20
katie hopkins sounded off on children's names:
us weekly reported selena gomez was hooking up with ed sheeran:
myspace attempted a relaunch:
one direction's zayn malik got a tattoo of girlfriend perrie edwards:
anthony kiedis got beat up by bodyguards for the rolling stones who mistook him for a random fan:
mischa barton called out sofia coppola for referencing her DUI in "the bling ring": https://t.co/QRLtvAba5etwitter.com/i/web/status/1…
and barton's former costar and "bling ring" victim rachel bilson criticized the movie, too.
"i thought it was weird to glorify something that was so upsetting for a lot of people," the actress told cosmo.
"i thought it was weird to glorify something that was so upsetting for a lot of people," the actress told cosmo.
finally, this week in bynes, amanda teamed up with waka flocka flame to produce her rap debut:
and stopped by atlantic city, where she did jumping jacks in the casino:
said one onlooker, "at one point we got too close and she stopped short, turned around and yelled in my friend's face: 'boo!'"
and she hit up the jacuzzi:
and her twitter targets included drake (and his mom):
"modern family" star sarah hyland and her boyfriend matt prokop:
the obamas, zac efron, her mom, and her sister:
but she bonded with mac miller:
"i support you in everything that you do," the rapper said to bynes. "everyone's buzzing around you, so you're doing something right."
and various other musings:
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
