By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Paula Deen has pretty much gone from being a wealthy and high regarded chef to a disgrace in a matter of days. When reports of a lawsuit suggested Deen was being sued by a former employee of her restaurant and admitted she used racial slurs in the past, the entire story pretty much became a media circus in no time. As a result of the controversy, Paula has lost numerous endorsements already, including Wal-Mart and she even lost her gig with the Food Network. Although Paula tried to apologize in a couple of videos and just made an emotional appearance on the Today Show, her career is still in shambles. So it’s no surprise the disgraced chef has hired the real life “Olivia Pope” to fix her current scandal. Entertainment Weekly reports:
Gladiators to the rescue!
Ad Age is reporting that the embattled Paula Deen has hired Smith & Co., the Washington D.C. crisis firm that serves as the inspiration for ABC’s hit show Scandal. Apparently, Deen’s team reached out to Judy Smith’s firm after the first Today show appearance was canceled — and the awkward You Tube apologies were posted.
But was the firm in place when Deen appeared on NBC this morning? The 66-year-old Deen failed to apologize during the 13-minute interview and only managed to dig herself deeper in a hole. (For more react, click here). Maybe, but Ad Age says that Smith will likely focus on shoring up relations with the other companies that do business with Deen since she’s already lost the Food Network, Smithfield Foods and Caesars Entertainment, which operates four Deen-themed restaurants in Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois and North Carolina.
Lol too funny.
OMG!!! Is this real?!
Yeah Olivia Pope is the only person that can save her lol
I done heard it all now!
Too late!!!!! the domino effect has already started and wont stop Paula Deen problem is she waited too late to apologize and kept trying to justify it. All her endorsements are in the trash just like my Paula Deen pots.
Wow. Lol.
Yeah I think it’s too late too…oh well.
She hired a black women? I R O N Y. Please have the Columbus Short of Smith & Co call me. Thanks!
At this point, what can Smith do for her?
This also makes me wonder about one’s principles when it comes to a career. I understand attorneys defending criminals as our justice system works in a way that a person is deemed to be innocent until proven otherwise and they’re entitled to legal counsel. Have heard some attorneys still refuse to work with certain clients for reasons of principle, but that’s neither here nor there.
However, a “fixer” who’s already quite established in her career doesn’t have to take every case that comes her way. There’s no system compelling her to even consider doing so. Having first worked for the senior President Bush and now Deen, I’m really curious to know more about how Smith selects her cases and why. What’s her motivation? Would she defend Zimmerman? David Duke? Dog the Bounty Hunter? What’s her process and her standard for accepting new clients?
This isn’t about Deen using racial slurs as much as it is her mindset about blacks in general. Her longing for the nostalgia of the old South and trying to recreate scenes of slaves mulling about a plantation serving whites says a lot about her character. This woman is a racist through and through. No, she may not want to lynch blacks, but she takes pride in her family’s history of being plantation owners and shows not an ounce of shame about their immoral behavior or her upbringing in their worldview. This is why she’s being sued to begin with. She does not respect blacks as equals and to hire Smith is almost like a smack in the face. Just like her token friend Hollis (please watch the clip of her introducing him on stage if you haven’t already), Smith is being used as a token, too. The question is why is Smith allowing this?
I’d like to think that the fictitious Olivia Pope wouldn’t touch Deen with a ten foot pole, but then again she sleeps with married men, so her principles leave a bit to be desired.
Smh, Too little, too late! Racist Dean.