Paula Deen is at it again. Nearly two years after the celebrated chef was blasted for her racial slurs, it looks like she is serving yet another fresh batch of race-related mayhem as she posted a picture of her and her son, Bobby, in costume with the latter evidently made to look more "brown," according to USA Today.
The controversial photo, which was uploaded and later on deleted on Twitter, showed Deen and Bobby all dressed up in costumes in an effort to replicate Lucy and Ricardo in the 1950s comedy show, titled "I Love Lucy." Although the idea was definitely amusing, the manner of execution was not as it showed Bobby with a noticeably more "brown" face to make his resemblance to the character, Ricky Ricardo, played by Cuban actor Desi Arnaz, convincing. While the celebrity chef immediately realized the social blunder she once again gotten herself into, her decision to delete the photo did not come quick enough to save her from the netizens who screen-grabbed the racially insensitive post.
As the online world becomes abuzz with this latest bout of racism, Deen's publicist, Jaret Keller, clarified that the social media spectacle was not her client's fault. Keller shoved the blame to their social manager whom they immediately fired following the blunder. "Paula Deen's Social Media Manager posted a picture this morning of Paula and Bobby Deen dressed in costume as Lucy and Ricky, from I Love Lucy," read her statement released to People Magazine. It continued to say, "This photograph is from a Halloween episode of Paula's Best Dishes that aired in 2011."
The statement further read, "Paula immediately had this picture taken down as soon as she saw the post and apologizes to all who were offended. As such, Paula Deen Ventures has terminated their relationship with this Social Media Manager."
It could be recalled that Deen was first blasted for racist remarks in 2013 which saw her multi-million dollar empire crashing down, according to Los Angeles Times. Labelled as a racist, the celebrity chef lost her partnership with the Food Network along with a number of endorsements. A year following that debacle, Deen was seen visibly trying to rebuild her career.
"I'm fighting to get my name back," Deen shared in an earlier interview with People Magazine. She added, "I used to have dreams that I lost everything." She continued to say, "And when it finally happens, you think, 'I'm still alive.'"
Check out the controversial photo in a screen-grab courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.
.@Paula_Deen deletes photo of son @BobbyDeen in "brownface" following criticism http://t.co/fKKzkEjlxB pic.twitter.com/6cw00duiRj
"” Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 7, 2015
