Paula Deen made her expected Today Show appearance on Wednesday morning, tearing up and defending herself against allegations of racism.
Despite admitting in a deposition to using the “n-word,” when Matt Lauer asked her if she was racist she replied “no.”
"I believe that … every one of God’s creatures is created equal. I believe that everyone should be treated equal, that’s the way I was raised and that’s the way I live my life,” she explained, Today.com reports.
In light of her firing from the Food Network after 11 years, she admits last week’s events have left her in a “state of shock.”
"I'm so fortunate that so many of my partners that know who I am have decided to stand by me. QVC has not dropped me. There's only two that has dropped me,” she said, referring to the Food Network and Smithfield Foods. “I'm so very thankful for the partners that I have that believe in me,” USA Today notes.
Lauer asked her about the “n-word” controversy, and she said she only used it once on her “66 years on earth” and it was when she was being robbed.
"The day I used that word it was a world ago. It was 30 years ago. I had had a gun put to my head because the man that had the gun to my head was my customer at the main office …"
“What you see is what you get. I'm heartbroken,” she said at the end of the interview.
image: NBC