Paula Deen said she is still "not OK" in an interview tied to a new documentary that revisits the 2013 controversy that upended her television and retail career.
Deen spoke with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the premiere of "Canceled: The Paula Deen Story," directed by Billy Corben and shown at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. In the interview she said the industry fallout — including the loss of television deals and retail partnerships — left her feeling devastated despite later appearances and ongoing business operations.
"I’m not OK in here," Deen said, pointing to her chest in the interview. Her son, Bobby Deen, pushed back in the same conversation, saying the family had not "lost it all" and noting that restaurants and family life had continued. "This was 2013, a long time ago," he told the reporter.
Deen’s reputation crumbled after a 2013 deposition in a racial-discrimination lawsuit in which she acknowledged that she had used the N-word at some point in her life. The admission prompted networks, sponsors and retailers to sever ties; Deen has cited Food Network, Walmart and Target among the companies that withdrew support in the immediate aftermath. The lawsuit, filed by a former restaurant manager, was later dismissed.
In the documentary and in interviews, Deen has argued that her answer in the deposition referred to an incident years earlier and not to conduct at her restaurants. She recounted an episode from 1987, when she said a man held a gun to her head during a bank robbery and that the racial slur was used in a private context with her husband, not toward employees or patrons. Legal experts who appear in the film say the deposition question was not directly tied to workplace conduct.
Deen has also described the emotional toll of seeing associates and business partners distance themselves at the time of the controversy. "Because these people knew me, but they weren’t willing to buck the ink," she told The Hollywood Reporter, calling the abandonment "heart-wrenching." In the film she says she wants the full facts presented: "Until both sides get out, the whole entire dirty truth."
Despite the scandal and its immediate consequences, Deen has continued to work publicly and maintain business interests. She competed on "Dancing with the Stars" in 2015, and she has run multiple restaurants since the controversy. The family has said those operations endured even as media and retail opportunities changed.
"Canceled: The Paula Deen Story" frames the 2013 events and their aftermath through archival footage, deposition excerpts and new interviews. The film includes commentary from legal analysts and family members and seeks to place the deposition exchange and subsequent corporate responses in context. Deen told the reporter she does not want her legacy reduced to the charge of racism and said she worries about how she will be remembered.
The documentary’s appearance at TIFF marks a high-profile platform for Deen to address the controversy more than a decade after it cost her major media and retail relationships. The film joins broader cultural discussions about public reckonings, accountability and how careers are reshaped by widely publicized legal and media events.