The more I think about it, the more I say I had a knee-jerk
reaction about Paula Deen. That’s it, we
are not going to her restaurant when we go to Savannah this summer! I will not
support her!
But after being inundated with Paula updates in the news and
seeing her interview with Matt Lauer, I’ve changed my mind. Yes, it was very,
very wrong of her to use the N-word. And she knows that, owns that, and has
apologized for it. She’s embarrassed by her actions. Frankly, I don’t think
she’s that good of an actress—I think she truly meant what she said.
After watching the interview on The Today Show, I said to
Andy, They can take away all the endorsements they want—she’s going to be just
fine. In fact probably better than fine. ”
He paused to look at
me. We then began to make a mental list of all the famous people who had erred
and were forgiven, and basically the mishap was forgotten and they came back
better and stronger and more popular than ever:
Bill Clinton
Martha Stewart
Kim Kardashian
Rob Lowe
Robert Downey, Jr.
Brittany Spears
Michael Vic
Eddie Murphy
Hugh Grant
Chris Brown
Paul Ruebens
MikeTyson
That’s just the short list. We are fickle people.
So rather than just drop her and dismiss her, I wish she
could have a meaningful consequence. She should pay a hefty fine to the NAACP
or the United Negro College Fund. Or do a PSA about hurting people with words.
She should show her remorse by doing community service—she’s a cook, she should
prepare food for her local soup kitchen—and not just once, and not with a TV
crew filming it! I just think there is a more productive way for her to be repentant.
She’ll be back in a year with a new line of cookware, or a
cookbook (Eating Crow?), or a sauce…and
people will be buying it. Heck, Oprah will
probably be endorsing it.
