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"  After the National Enquirer published that there was a videotaped deposition where Paula Deen admitted to using the N-word, inquiring minds wanted to know: Could the Queen of Butter be a racist? Now the public can judge for themselves as said deposition has just been released. On May 17, 2013, Deen spoke at a legal hearing after allegations of racial discrimination were launched from a former manager at the Savannah, Georgia restaurant she co-owns with brother Earl &amp;quot;Bubba&amp;quot; Hiers. Lisa T. Jackson&amp;#039;s complaint, filed in 2012, alleged that African American workers were told to stay in the back of the restaurant so they would be out of the customers&amp;#039; sight. Jackson also claimed that Deen used racial epithets regarding African-American employees. More From Delish: Paula Deen Sells Butter-Flavored Lip Balm (Plus Other Products Inspired by Fatty Foods) According to CNN, Deen admitted to having used the N-word in the past. A portion of the transcript reveals her response to the lawyers line of questioning: Lisa T. Jackson&amp;#039;s Lawyer: &amp;quot;Miss Deen, have you told racial jokes?&amp;quot; Paula Deen: &amp;quot;No, not racial.&amp;quot; Jackson Lawyer: &amp;quot;Have you ever used the &amp;#039;N word&amp;#039; yourself?&amp;quot; Deen: &amp;quot;Yes, of course.&amp;quot; Deen explained the admission she was referring to was related to an incident when she was held up by robber while working at a bank many years ago. Jackson&amp;#039;s lawyer then asked if Deen has used the word since, and Deen responded, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m sure I have, but it&amp;#039;s been a very long time.&amp;quot; When asked in what context she added, &amp;quot;maybe in repeating something that was said to me.&amp;quot; More From Delish: Paula Deen&amp;#039;s Most Outrageous Recipes Reports that Deen had planned a wedding for a relative in which &amp;quot;middle-aged&amp;quot; African-American men would act as waiters as part of a plantation-style wedding. Deen believed it to be a &amp;quot;very southern style wedding.&amp;quot; However, in discussing the event, Jackson claimed Deen&amp;#039;s waiters were intended to look as slaves. Deen&amp;#039;s idea for having the middle-aged African-American men dressed in white jackets with black bow ties was inspired by another restaurant she had visited. She also described it as part of a &amp;quot;certain era in America.&amp;quot; When asked during the deposition what era she responded, &amp;quot;After the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War.&amp;quot; Jackson&amp;#039;s lawyer followed up asking, &amp;quot;Before the Civil War, those black men and women who were waiting on white people were slaves, right? Deen responded, &amp;quot;Yes, I would say they were slaves.&amp;quot; However, Deen added that she &amp;quot;&amp;#039;did not mean anything derogatory.&amp;quot; According to CNN, Deen&amp;#039;s lawyer, Bill Franklin said, &amp;quot;Contrary to media reports, Ms. Deen does not condone or find the use of racial epithets acceptable.&amp;quot; The Food Network has also issued a statement saying that they would &amp;quot;continue to monitor the situation.&amp;quot; You can find the entire deposition transcript on Eater.com. Does this change your opinion of Paula Deen? Find more great food content on Delish:   Search for the perfect recipe from our homepage Find out the latest food news Get a recipe book to save your favorite dishes Sign up for our free newsletters Check us out on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/restaurants/news/a39739/paula-deen-deposition-released/>