Tag Archives: Michael Sam

Paula Deen compares her recent outing as a racist to football player Michael Sam’s announcement that he’s gay.

“I feel like ‘embattled’ or ‘disgraced’ will always follow my name. It’s like that black football player who recently came out,” Deen told People Magazine in an interview hitting newsstands Friday, as quoted by The Wrap. “He said, ‘I just want to be known as a football player. I don’t want to be known as a gay football player.’ I know exactly what he’s saying.”

I’m not sure if I believe that Deen knows “exactly” what Sam is saying when she doesn’t seem to know his name. Was it that hard for her to Google? And I don’t think “embattled” or “disgraced” will always follow Sam’s name because the weird, alternative lifestyle here is Deen’s ignorance.

Deen continues to whine about her “embattled” life as a wealthy woman who is interviewed by national publications.

The celebrity chef also said her public fall from grace has made her feel “empathy” for others who have been vilified in the media, like “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson. Robertson was heavily criticized and temporarily suspended from his reality show for comments he made about gays and blacks in a GQ interview.

Let me see here: Deen’s post-scandal plan for letting the world know she’s not a racist is to express her “empathy” for one (Phil Robertson) and to refer to Michael Sam as that “black football player.” In the context of her attempt to co-opt his personal experiences for her own use, Sam’s race was irrelevant but yet she still led with it as his most defining characteristic. Wow. Who’s handling her PR? Bialystock and Bloom?

“It’s amazing that some people are given passes and some people are crucified,” Deen told People, as quoted by The Wrap. ”I have new empathy for these situations, though. My dad always told me, ‘Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.’”

Can Deen pause her plantation-style pity party long enough to name one person who received a “pass” for racist statements? Or offensive statements to any group? I’m not claiming they don’t exist but I just think that Deen might take the time to do her research (even learn Michael Sam’s name). It’s not like she’s that busy these days.

And no one — neither her nor Robertson — has been “crucified.” People said “mean” things about you. You lost your job. That’s the beginning of Stripes not a crucifixion.

Quick Comparison.

Stripes:

Crucifixion:

The guy in the second clip doesn’t look in any condition for an interview with People Magazine.