Reuters: People News: Celebrity chef Paula Deen apologizes on video after racial slur

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Celebrity chef Paula Deen apologizes on video after racial slur Jun 21st 2013, 20:21 1 of 2. Food Network television personality Paula Deen cheers for her husband Michael Groover during the semi-finals of the ''Papa'' Hemingway Look-Alike Contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida July 21, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau/Handout By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES | Fri Jun 21, 2013 4:21pm EDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. celebrity chef Paula Deen, who is being sued for racial discrimination and has admitted in a legal deposition to using a racial slur in the past, apologized on Friday for "the wrong that I've done" and begged for forgiveness. Deen, who has two popular shows on The Food Network featuring Southern cooking, made her statement in a video that was released after she failed to make a scheduled appearance on the NBC morning TV show "Today" to discuss the issue. "I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done. I want to learn and grow from this," Deen said in the video that was posted on the news and media website Buzzfeed.com and other websites. "Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable," Deen said in the video. At one point it appeared to have been posted on YouTube but was later designated as "private" and unavailable on that site. Deen, a white native of Georgia, was asked in a deposition released in transcript form this week if she had used the "N-word," and responded, "Yes, of course." The "N-word" is a euphemism for "nigger," an epithet for black people. A former employee of Paula Deen Enterprises, Lisa Jackson, is suing Deen and her brother, Earl "Bubba" Hiers, for racial and sexual discrimination in the workplace. The deposition was related to the suit. The lawsuit alleges that, while discussing with Jackson plans for Hiers' 2007 wedding, Deen said she wanted a "true southern plantation-style wedding." "Well, what I would really like is a bunch of little niggers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around," Deen said, according to the lawsuit. In the deposition, Deen said she had used the slur when describing, probably to her husband, how a black man robbed a bank where she was working in the 1980s. She said she had used the word since, "but it's been a very long time." In her video statement, Deen said she had made "plenty of mistakes along the way." "But I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners, I beg for your forgiveness," she said. The video posted to Buzzfeed and other sites was edited at several points. In the video, Deen did not directly mention the lawsuit or her deposition. "Today" host Matt Lauer said on the show that he talked to Deen by phone on Thursday and that he was told she flew to New York to appear on the show, where she was expected to address the controversy. "We talked about the fact it would be an open and candid discussion, no holds barred, all questions within the bounds of what we would talk about," Lauer told "Today" viewers. Lauer added that Deen's representatives later said she was exhausted and would not show up. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Jim Loney and David Storey) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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