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"   Paula, Paula, PAULA...GIRL. We need to talk. First off, I&amp;#039;ve never really been a fan of yours. You lost me when you created the donut breakfast sandwich, which includes a hamburger patty, fried egg, bacon, and two glazed donuts as buns. Yuck. But also, I don&amp;#039;t really enjoy cooking shows. I don&amp;#039;t understand the appeal of them. Why watch someone make a meal, when I&amp;#039;d rather be devouring it?! It&amp;#039;s such a stomach tease. No me gusta! When reports surfaced that, in a videotaped deposition, you admitted to using the N-word, making racist and anti-semitic jokes, and wanted to hire black waiters dressed like slaves for a wedding (seriously?!), I wasn&amp;#039;t shocked. I mean. C&amp;#039;mon, y&amp;#039;all. Paula&amp;#039;s an old white lady from the South. Now, now. I&amp;#039;m not saying all old white ladies from the South are racist, but 66-year-old Paula grew up in an era when blacks and whites weren&amp;#039;t considered equal. Can you blame a girl for being the product of her environment? No. But can a woman with a multimillion dollar business be smart enough to recognize that times have changed and so should her views? YES. The Internet exploded and everyone was calling Paula a racist, demanding a takedown of her empire. She was scheduled for an interview on the Today show with Matt Lauer to talk about this scandal on June 21, but she chickened out and issued this half-ass apology. Soon after, Food Network announced they would be dropping Paula from their future line-up. Needless to say, many\u2014me included\u2014were confused as to what Paula was apologizing for. Was it for skipping out on the national TV appearance to explain herself or for being a blatant racist? Still #NotClearOn that. But what I was clear on is that she needed a better publicist ASAP. Alas, she mustered up enough courage to go on the Today show this morning. And what followed was just so...tragic. In the interview below, Paula tries to tell the world she is not a racist by going on the &amp;quot;well-black-people-use-it&amp;quot; defense, telling Lauer, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s very distressing for me to go into my kitchens and I hear what these young people are calling each other. It&amp;#039;s very, very distressing.&amp;quot; But then she tearfully added, &amp;quot;I Is What I Is And I&amp;#039;m Not Changing.&amp;quot; Oh, chiiild. Paula, girl. 1. The N-word is a little tricky. It&amp;#039;s become a very fluid term in recent years, but pro tip: If you&amp;#039;re old and white, you should probably steer clear from ever using it. I know, it&amp;#039;s sucks. It&amp;#039;s such a cultural term now that has been deemed okay in certain instances by people like rappers, but um...just don&amp;#039;t. 2. Trying to justify your racist antics with the southern copout of you ain&amp;#039;t changing is ridiculous. Sorry. Times have changed, and you may not want to change, but your image has to. And to do so, Paula has enlisted the best of the best when it comes to crisis management. The real-life Olivia Pope, Judy Smith, will be handling Paula&amp;#039;s shitstorm from here on, reports Us Weekly. But can this Paula disaster be handled? I don&amp;#039;t know. Paula&amp;#039;s image is pretty much tarnished. Want more from Dara? Follow her on Facebook and Twitter @dadeeyo. Photo: NBC "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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