Okay... this whole Smithfield
/ Paula Deen controversy is getting crazy.
She's
protested wherever she goes. She's got a section of the
Smithfield Justice website devoted to her. And now Presidential Master Chef Talli V. Counsel has written a
letter to Paula asking her to reconsider her Smithfield endorsements.
But Paula is stubborn ole' southern gal and not giving in!
(Paula's looking kinda Bea Arthur there, ain't she?)
In a recent
interview with a Savannah-based TV station, Paula said:
"You wouldn't come to me if you had a brain tumor and said please, operate on my tumor, cut it out. No, you wouldn't come to me for that. I wouldn't come to a union organizer to help me develop recipes in my kitchen or to help me come in and cook. I want people who know what they're doing and i have no knowledge of those kind of issues.”
True. However I don't think anyone's asking Paula to fix ("operate on") any of the union issues. They're upset about her profiting off of what they think is a corrupt organization. Not a very good argument, Paula.
THEN... when asked if she would not associate with the company if she found out workers were being intimidated, Paula responded:
“You know, all of us in America who work we all have some complaints about our work. It's called work for a reason. It's not called play, so there will always be complaints about our workplace. On my job, i have been injured. I have taken falls. But you know what, that's part of the risk I take when I go to work and of course. I don't want to take unnecessary risks. I don't want anyone out there taking unnecessary risks, but this is our, it's our job.”
[snip]
I kid... a bit, but I think there's a big difference between slipping on a banana peel at the Food Network kitchen and getting your hand chopped off in a meat processor where you're grinding up thousands of hogs each day.
*******************************
I am not an expert on this whole controversy by any means, but unlike Paula I'm not profiting off of the company; I'm not a paid endorser. Paula should have thoroughly investigated this issue before lending her name and likeness and it's not okay for her to just feign ignorance now and play up this whole "I'm just a lil' old cook from Southwest Georgia" thing when she's really a multi-millionaire businesswoman. Big money comes with big responsibility.
[Image Source USA Today/AP]
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