I don't think it's a double standard with a guy like Baldwin. He has proven his liberal bent, his support of gay rights, etc. In fact, just today, and I need to admit it, my spouse asked if I liked a particular fabric at Joann's Fabrics for a particular project. I remarked, "It's gay." I am a staunch supporter of gay rights, have many friends who are gay, and I said disparagingly, "that was wrong for me to say that."
It's what's in a person's heart that matters. I personally believe that Deen has racism in her heart. I firmly believe that Baldwin doesn't.
Plus, Baldwin being the foul-tempered jerk he is, was mad (what's new about that?) and intentionally trying to be insulting. If the reporter had a prosthetic leg, Baldwin would have called him a "one-leg gimp" or something. If the reporter was overweight, Baldwin would have called him an "ugly blob of fat, greasing the sidewalk as he walks." If his daughter says the wrong thing, Baldwin...well, you get the idea. He's abusive and rude, but nothing would support his being homophobic.
Deen, otoh, pretends to be Ms. Sweetness and Light, while having a long and continuing history of racist-type language, tolerance in her businesses for harassment and discriminatory environment, and she doesn't have a clue as to why she might be criticized for that.
Vrede wrote:Not that I'm defending Baldwin but there is a difference between his going after a reporter who, accurately or not, attacked Baldwin's wife and Deen's treatment of her underlings.
Some of her underlings are coming forward to say she never treated them badly or called them "niggers" to their face. I'm guessing that doesn't include the cook she allowed to be called "my little monkey" for years.
Back in October 2007, a tape was released of Duane Chapman ("Dog the Bounty Hunter") using the n-word repeatedly while expressing disapproval of his son dating a black girl. He made a public apology, but on November 2nd, A&E cancelled production of his show.
By December 21st the chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, one of the first to call the A&E network to have the show taken off the air, was calling him a "changed man." On February 19, 2008, A&E announced that the show would return to production.
3-4 months. That's all it took for the scandal to be forgotten.
It'll be the same for Paula Deen. She makes too much money for others for them not to put her back on the air.
She'll probably be back. In my case, my opinion of her and my willingness to watch her show and buy her stuff is unchanged. I didn't like her before, never watched her show or bought her stuff or ate in her restaurants, and won't likely in the future.
That does it Baldwin. I will never buy another one of your cookbooks, your pots
and pans at Sears, or eat at your oyster shuckin' restaurant. Deen likely has so
many irons in the fire that she'll be fine. Plus, America is very forgiving of its
sleazeballs.
So she dumps her lawyers. How much you want to bet they advised her to settle before it got out of hand and she said something to the effect of "fuck no!" So of course it's the lawyer's fault.
