Paula Deen still doesn’t get it.
The high-calorie cooking queen’s bid to recover from her admission she used the N-word was damaged when she compared herself to “that black football player who recently came out.”
Deen alluded to college football star Michael Sam in a profile in the new People magazine as she tried to relaunch her career.
The 67-year-old celebrity chef was savaged by critics last year when it was disclosed that she admitted in a court deposition to having previously used the racial slur.
Now Deen indicated, she’s surprised at how some celebrities managed to survive scandals.
“It’s amazing that some people are given passes and some are crucified,” she said.
“I feel like ‘embattled’ and ‘disgraced’ will always follow my name,” she said. “It’s like that black football player who recently came out. He said ‘I just want to be known as a football player. I don’t want to be known as a gay football player.’”
“I know exactly what he’s saying,” she added.
The former Food Network hostess said that after the N-word scandal broke, “I was obsessed with the person America had confused me with – after I had lived my life so clean and open.”
But she said she gradually recovered emotionally with the help of her fans, psychiatry and, of course, cooking.
Deen said on-line comments from her supporters helped revive her. “I could not get off the computer except to go to the bathroom and eat,” she said.
She also felt comfort in the kitchen. “I made eight cakes in six days,” she said.
Her husband told her the rich diet might be too much – for him.
“Honey, I don’t know if I’m going to survive this,” she said he told her.