Paula Deen allegedly used a black woman’s recipes to make a fortune, then threw her away

An 11-year-old video of racist accusations against celebrity chef Paula Deen is making the rounds again. A decade ago, black chef Dora Charles claimed Deen left her after 20 years together when the Food Network hired the restaurateur.

“She’s in charge of the kitchen at The Lady & Sons. If it’s Southern food, you better not serve it until it’s on that woman’s tongue,” Deen once said of Charles, who was the manager chef at Dean’s Savannah restaurant The Lady & Sons.

In an interview for The New York TimesCharles recalled a conversation she had with the Georgia native before she became a famous television personality. She claimed Deen told her, “Stick with me, one day if I get rich, you get rich too.”

But according to Charles, Deen broke her promise once she achieved celebrity status. She expressed her belief that Paula Deen was a racist due to her experiences with the Kitchen Classics writer. Charles told the Times, “I heard her use the N-word.”

A clip from Dora Charles’ 2013 session has resurfaced on TikTok. account August 12, 2024 Other users on the platform were aware of the interview, but some were shocked to learn that Deen had allegedly abused a black woman.

“I wouldn’t put anything above Paula Deen!!!” one person exclaimed. Another commented, “I always knew it. The way Paula seasoned her food was too familiar.”

A 3rd person wrote: “Paula Deen should give this lady the money she worked so hard for so she can open her own restaurant!”

Charles didn’t have her own restaurant, but in 2015 she released a cookbook titled “A Real Southern Cook.”

Dora Charles isn’t the one former Paula Deen co-worker to accuse the “Paula’s Home Cooking” host of bigotry. Former Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House manager Lisa Jackson sued then-owner Deen in 2013 for racial and sexual discrimination.

A federal judge dismissed the discrimination case against Deen because Lisa Jackson is a white woman, and either side agreed to drop the sexual discrimination lawsuit. There is unconfirmed speculation that Jackson and Deen have reached a settlement.

Even though the legal battle was over, Paula Deen continued to torpedo her profession within the wake of Jackson’s lawsuit. A transcript of Deen’s court testimony within the case revealed that she admitted to using a racial slur.

Food Network decided not to renew Deen’s contract and pulled her shows from the air. She also lost her sponsorship cope with Smithfield Foods. Retailers like Walmart and Target also pulled Deen-related products from their stores.

Paula Deen posted an apology on YouTube for the “hurtful language” she used previously. Deen also appeared on “Today” deny he’s a racist. The entrepreneur also said: “Would I quit? Knowing me, no.”

After facing criticism for her admission that she uses the N-word, Paula Deen managed to return to television, appearing on Dancing with the Stars in 2015 and MasterChef: Legends in 2021.

Deen went viral in June 2024 when photos of the 77-year-old sparked negative reactions on social media, causing many to relive old feelings about her past that many will always remember.

However, Dora Charles has remained out of the general public eye for the past nine years. The Southern Foodways Alliance produced a short documentary in 2015 for Eater during which a chef from Savannah, Georgia, shared how she learned Southern cooking from her grandmother.