Oprah Winfrey, Paula Deen N-Word Controversy: 'Just Felt Kind of Sad'
Back in March 2012 Oprah Winfrey and Paula Deen became friends when Winfrey interviewed the cook for Oprah's Next Chapter.
A little over a year later, Deen admitted to the world that she had used the N-word in the past, resulting in her getting fired from the Food Network and losing many endorsement deals.
Winfrey hadn't said anything about the controversy, until a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight.
"In the very first days I tried to reach her and then I decided to stay out of it as I saw it blowing up," Winfrey, told Entertainment Tonight, Us Weekly reported August 6. "In time she will be fine. For me, it all just felt kind of sad."
The TV host reportedly said she believes everyone needs to let the "dust settle" before they talk about racism today. Winfrey went on to say she has experience racism in the workplace.
"Nobody in their right mind is going to call me the N-word. You know, you see those fools on Twitter sometime say ridiculous things. But nobody in their right mind is going to do that to my face, because true racism is being able to have power over somebody else," Winfrey said. "So that doesn't happen to me that way."
Winfrey continued, "It shows up for me if I'm in a boardroom or situations where I'm the only woman or I'm the only African American person within a hundred mile radius. I can see in the energy of the people there, they don't sense that I should be holding one of those seats. I can sense that. But I can never tell, 'Is it racism? Is it sexism?'"
