--- description: "I feel like 'embattled' or 'disgraced' will always follow my name. It's like that black football player who recently came out" title: Paula Deen Compares Self to Michael Sam image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf019a44cfe6f048e/6986835cd0b6f2ee55303060/deen-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's How People Reacted to Paula Deen Comparing Herself to Michael Sam by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2014 6:07 PM CUT  Deen just landed a deal worth at least $75 million. Deen just landed a deal worth at least $75 million.Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2014 6:07 PM CUT Paula Deen’s new [interview with _People_ magazine](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2568477/Paula-Deen-admits-shes-overeating-therapy-N-word-scandal.html "undefined") might have been an attempt to win back public support after [last year’s scandal](http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/showbiz/paula-deen-racial-slur/ "undefined"), but some ill-worded statements only served to put the chef in the spotlight again—and not in the best way. “I feel like ’embattled’ or ‘disgraced’ will always follow my name. It’s like that black football player who recently came out,” Deen told _People,_ [referring to Michael Sam](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/sports/michael-sam-college-football-star-says-he-is-gay-ahead-of-nfl-draft.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). “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.” Here’s how the Internet reacted: > [](https://twitter.com/newLEESonlife/status/439084937983971328) > [](https://twitter.com/%5FBuckeyeInKY/status/439084981143367682) > [](https://twitter.com/colts4ever1/status/439094247908999169) > [](https://twitter.com/Salon/status/439093339707961344) > [](https://twitter.com/KBeezeh/status/439093937211711488) > [](https://twitter.com/paul%5Flander/status/439093197080236032) Positive sentiments were few and far between: > [](https://twitter.com/koko68two/status/439094663749070848) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/10376/paula-deen-michael-sam-people/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/10376/paula-deen-michael-sam-people/"},"headline":"Here's How People Reacted to Paula Deen Comparing Herself to Michael Sam","datePublished":"2014-02-27T18:07:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:30:48.349Z","description":"\"I feel like 'embattled' or 'disgraced' will always follow my name. It's like that black football player who recently came out\"","url":"https://time.com/10376/paula-deen-michael-sam-people/","keywords":["celebrities","Scandal","Michael Sam","Paula Deen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf019a44cfe6f048e/6986835cd0b6f2ee55303060/deen-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf019a44cfe6f048e/6986835cd0b6f2ee55303060/deen-1280x720.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"deen-1280x720.jpg","caption":"Deen just landed a deal worth at least $75 million.","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/10376/paula-deen-michael-sam-people/","name":"Here's How People Reacted to Paula Deen Comparing Herself to Michael Sam"}}]}] ```