(CelebNMusic247-News) Oprah Speaks About Paula Dean:
The Queen of talk, Oprah has been surprisingly mum on the scandal enveloping her friend Paula Deen and her use of the N-word.
But Oprah Winfrey has broken her silence on the controversy over the disgraced television chef’s use of the N-word. Oprah said during a revealing interview on Entertainment Tonight Monday (Aug 5):
“I think Paula Deen was sort of used as a symbol, but I think lots of people use the word inappropriately all the time.”
Here’s the drop according to our friends at 4UMF:
The 59-year old television mogul says she’s very sensitive to racism — a major theme in her new movie, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”
“I do not run in the circle of people who use the word loosely,” she told ET. “For me it’s out of respect to those people who it was the last word they heard while they were being hung, the last weord they heard when they were being fired, the last word they heard when their house was being burned.
“It’s the word heard every day when they were walking down the street and they had to step off the side walk to let other people pass.”
Winfrey also recounted a recent racist experience she endured while visiting Switzerland for Tina Turner’s wedding. A shop worker who didn’t recognize Winfrey refused to allow her to see an expensive bag on display because she assumed it was beyond the customer’s means. Oprah said she left without making a scene, rather than give the clerk a commission.
But Winfrey also seemed to tiptoe around condemnation for Deen’s use of the racial slur. The pair had reportedly bonded when the doyenne of deep fried food appeared on Oprah’s show in May 2012.
Deen’s public relations nightmare began in June when a deposition in a lawsuit filed by a former employee at her Savannah, Ga., restaurant went public. The 66-year-old celebrity chef had admitted to using the N-word in the deposition in the suit.
Winfrey said once Deen is emotionally ready to discuss the controversy, she’s welcome to return to OWN for on-camera sit-down.
“I just really want to know what happened,” said Winfrey.
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