According to her deposition in a lawsuit, celebrity chef Paula Deen denies ever making racist jokes, but she did admit to using the “N-word.” Scroll down to learn more about the chef in depth.
Paula Ann Hiers Deen is a television personality, cookbook author, and chef from the United States.
Deen lives in Savannah, Georgia, with her sons Jamie and Bobby Deen, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and Paula Deen’s Creek House.
She has fifteen cookbooks to her credit. She has been married to Michael Groover since 2004, but she still goes by the last name Deen from her first marriage.
What Racist Comment Did Paula Deen Make? Controversy Explained
The American celebrity chef and cooking show host Paula Deen is again at the center of a race scandal.
Just over two years after admitting to saying the N-word during a deposition in a discrimination lawsuit brought by a former employee, which led to the Food Network not renewing her contract.
Deen’s official Twitter and Facebook accounts shared a photo of her and her son Bobby dressed up as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo from the TV show I Love Lucy on Tuesday, with Bobby painted a dark brown color. Ricardo, the main character, is of Latino ancestry.
Many commenters protested about Bobby’s makeup when the picture was posted, calling it “brownface.” Deen has subsequently taken down the image.
Paula Deen draws heat over controversial photo of son Bobby in brownface makeup: http://t.co/CypoPFPDyy pic.twitter.com/IZRV54uMdU
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 8, 2015
Paula Deen: Where Is She From?
Deen was born Paula Ann Hiers in Albany, Georgia, to Corrie A. Hiers and Earl Wayne Hiers, Sr.
Deen’s father died unexpectedly at the age of 40 when she was 19, and her mother died four years later at the age of 44. Before her father’s death, Paula married Jimmy Deen when she was just 18 years old, and they had their first son James in 1967 and a second son Robert in 1970.
Deen was depressed and agoraphobic in her twenties, so she began to spend more time preparing food for her family because it was something she could do without leaving the house.
Deen is currently married to Michael Groover, a tugboat captain in Savannah, Georgia, since 2004.
Deen, like Groover, has two children from a previous marriage. The wedding, which took place at Bethesda Academy in Savannah in 2004, was featured on a Food Network show.