“These are tears of joy, y’all.”
Those were the first words from tearful celebrity chef Paula Deen when she found herself she was greeted with enthusiastic applause by a crowd of 1,500 in Houston, Texas.
The Houston Chronicle reports the crowd gave Deen a standing ovation when she walked onstage to perform a cooking demonstration at the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show at Houston’s Reliant Center on Saturday, causing Deen to become emotional. “I’ve said all along that the one place I’d want to make my first step back out is Texas,” Deen said, fighting back tears during her first public appearance since her admission of using racist language caused her career to crater back in June. “Y’all’s hearts are as big as your state!”
Despite this outpouring of support, Deen still has an uphill climb ahead of her if she intends to rebuild her shattered reputation.
While the lawsuit at the centre of the controversy was tossed out by the judge, Deen is still trying to repair the damage to her reputation after admitting to using racist language in a sworn deposition related to the trial, launched by a former employee.
The ensuing scandal led Deen to lose her show on The Food Network, as well as several lucrative endorsement deals estimated to be worth more than $12 million.
