Paula Deen‘s sons have been initially skeptical about their mom’s 2013 scandal being explored in a brand new documentary.
“My ideas to mother have been, I like you and I help you, however I don’t know in the event you’re going to get from this documentary what you hope to get,” Jamie Deen mentioned of Canceled: The Paula Deen Story — which premiered on the on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant on Saturday, September 6 — in an interview with Deadline printed on Thursday, September 11. “She mentioned, son, I simply need an opportunity to talk about it, which we actually didn’t get, mother didn’t get 12 years in the past.”
Paula’s youthful son, Bobby Deen, mentioned he had “reservations” of his personal about collaborating within the movie. “I used to be afraid of what may come to mild or what [director] Billy [Corben] may unearth and put within the movie as a result of I felt like we had been so uncovered already,” he shared. “I simply didn’t see it being definitely worth the threat, ripping that Band-Assist off once more, one thing that had occurred so way back and why would we rehash it?”
Bobby added, “We survived it as soon as, however all the things that we’ve completed, we’ve completed as a household. So, no matter my mother goes to undergo, I’m going to be right here and undergo it along with her. For higher or worse.”
Frazer Harrison/Getty Pictures for Meals Community SoBe Wine & Meals Pageant
Canceled: The Paula Deen Story explores Paula’s rise and fall through the years, notably the aftermath of her 2013 scandal. That 12 months, she was sued for racial and sexual discrimination by a former restaurant worker. Paula admitted to having used the “N-word” previously throughout the deposition, ensuing within the crumbling of her leisure empire.
“The explanation I used to be actually glad to see this [documentary] occur was as a result of I’ve little interest in making an attempt to persuade you whether or not I’m a racist or not, as a result of I do know who I’m and what I’m,” Paula informed the outlet. “However the fact, the entire fact was very, essential for anyone to be keen to dig and examine, and Billy was keen to do this.”
Corben, for his half, described the documentary as a “movie star scandal story” and a “nostalgic archive jaunt by means of the 2000s and the 2010s.” He continued, “After I received this chance [to direct], I used to be like, properly, that is attention-grabbing. However I wasn’t satisfied till I met Paula along with her sons, after which I used to be like, oh, that is actually attention-grabbing. It is a story about not only a movie star scandal, however a household that survived the scandal, and perhaps this is able to be a bit extra inner and fewer exterior than we have a tendency to inform.”
Like Paula, Corben mentioned the documentary’s goal is “to not change individuals’s opinions,” however to “permit them or assist them develop an knowledgeable opinion primarily based on the info.” He added, “I don’t actually care what individuals consider Paula Deen — all due respect. In the event that they really feel that she’s a racist, so be it. However a minimum of they type that opinion primarily based on what occurred.”
Canceled: The Paul Deen Story, TBA