No amount of melted butter is going to fix this mistake.
Food personality Paula Deen tweeted an image of herself dressed as Lucille Ball in “I Love Lucy,” along with her son, Bobby Deen, as beloved television husband, Ricky Ricardo, originally played by Cuban actor Desi Arnaz.
One glaring issue with the staged photo: Bobby’s face is painted a much darker shade, i.e. blackface, or brownface, as some pointed out.
After being fired from Food Network in 2013 for racist statements and behaviors, it seems that Deen still doesn’t quite get it.
“Lucyyyyyyy! You got a lot of esplainin’ to do! #TransformationTuesday @BobbyDeen” @Paula_Deen tweeted at 11 a.m.
In the first hour the image emerged on the Internet, the tweet garnered plenty of concerned responses.
“@Paula_Deen @BobbyDeen oh god you did not,” @totallymorgan responded.
Twitter user @umKennady reminded Deen of the permanance of her insensitivity, “@Paula_Deen @BobbyDeen the Internet is forever. When you do decide to back peddle, this will always be there.”
No response yet from @BobbyDeen, but many want to know exactly what he, or anyone in the photo, photographer included, was thinking when organizing this shoot.
Looks like the Deen family has a lot of explaining to do.
UPDATE: Deen deleted the photo Tuesday afternoon, with no comment about its prior presence.
The New York Times reported that Team Deen blamed a social media manager for the photo blunder and has since fired this person.
Another photo of Bobby getting his brownface makeup applied was seen on Paula’s Facebook, and also removed without comment. Rumor has it the image is from a previous Halloween shoot, which still doesn’t make the brownface acceptable.
Neither Paula nor Bobby have posted on social media since Tuesday’s incident.
