Paula Deen recalls shocking vegan Ellen DeGeneres with a gift ham: 'Laid it down and didn't say a...

Deen's new documentary &34;Canceled&34; charts her rise to prominence and downfall after her infamous Nword scandal. Paula Deen recalls shocking vegan Ellen DeG

Deen's new documentary "Canceled" charts her rise to prominence and downfall after her infamous N-word scandal.

Paula Deen recalls shocking vegan Ellen DeGeneres with a gift ham: 'Laid it down and didn't say a word'

Deen's new documentary "Canceled" charts her rise to prominence and downfall after her infamous N-word scandal.

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September 22, 2025 9:00 a.m. ET

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Paula Deen and Ellen DeGeneres. Credit:

Daniel Boczarski/Getty; VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

- Celebrity cook Paula Deen speaks about various celebrity interactions in her new documentary.

- The star recalls shocking vegan comedian Ellen DeGeneres with a gift ham.

- DeGeneres "laid it down and didn't say a word," Deen recalls, adding that she "felt like a turd."

Paula Deen's later career was largely defined by a scandal that saw her admit in a legal deposition to using the N-word in her past, but a new documentary about the celebrity cook's life also includes a behind-the-scenes look at some of her wildest celebrity interactions as well.

In *Canceled: The Paula Deen Story*, which world-premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, Deen reflects on her meteoric rise to stardom in the early aughts, which she remembers as a whirlwind period that saw her appear on a multitude of talk shows — including *The Ellen DeGeneres Show*.

As she sits for an interview in the film, Deen sets up what would become an embarrassing interaction for her, and the film plays a clip that sees DeGeneres welcoming "the queen of Southern cooking," as she puts it, to her set.**

Celebrity cook Paula Deen in 2005.

Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Deen approaches DeGeneres with a large ham in her hand, though she admits in her documentary interview that she had no idea the comedian was a vegan.****"I walked out and I said, 'I brought a ham for my favorite ham. Isn't that sweet?'" Deen remembers, with the footage showing Deen telling DeGeneres, "He's so heavy, he's your pig to keep up with now!"

DeGeneres then takes the ham and tosses it to the ground before moving on.

Paula Deen attorney says people shouldn't 'take any issue' with her using N-word in context

Paula Deen reveals she missed a phone call from Oprah after N-word scandal (exclusive)

"She took it, laid it down, and didn't say a word," Deen tells the documentary crew. "I found out later she was a vegetarian. She didn't eat meat. I felt like a turd."

A representative for DeGeneres had no comment on the documentary scene, but clarified to ** that DeGeneres is a vegan, not a vegetarian, as Deen says in the film.

*Canceled* also documents Deen's various public spats with the media as well as other stars, including the late chef and CNN travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain, who once labeled Deen as the "most dangerous" woman in the country due to her butter-filled recipes.

In the film, Deen takes a swipe at Bourdain, years after he died by suicide in 2018, saying, "I felt like he didn't like anybody. Not even himself, maybe."**

Season 1 of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'.

TheEllenShow/YouTube

The project additionally highlights the fallout Deen faced after admitting in the aforementioned deposition that she "of course" used the N-word in the past, and she maintains in the film that she did so after she was reportedly held up at gunpoint.

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Deen lost brand endorsements and a deal with the Food Network amid the fallout, though a federal judge later dismissed in 2013 a racial bias portion of a lawsuit against Deen that was filed by a white former restaurant employee, Lisa Jackson.

The celebrity foodie — and other associates of hers — repeatedly stress in the film that Deen is not racist.

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Source: "AOL Movies"

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