Celebrity chef Paula Deen is currently under fire for using the n-word and making racist jokes during a videotaped May 17 deposition, according to HollywoodLife. The Emmy-winning chef admitted to using the n-word, making racist jokes and wanting black waiters to play the role of slaves at a wedding party she was putting together.

"The personal disclosures uncovered have stunned Paula's family and could mark the collapse of her entire empire," a source told the National Enquirer. Deen was questioned for three hours because of the $1.2 million 2012 lawsuit in which Lisa Jackson, former general manager of their Savannah, Ga. restaurant claimed Deen's use of the N-word and accused Deen's brother Bubba Hiers of sexual harassment and infliction of assault and distress.

When Jackson's attorney asked Deen if she had ever used the n-word during the deposition, Deen responded, "Yes, of course," and gave examples of the times she had used the slur. 

"It's just what they are - they're jokes," Deena said on the subject of her making racist jokes. "Most jokes are about Jewish people, rednecks, black folks...I can't determine what offends another person."

When asked where she got the idea of having black men play the role of slaves at a wedding, she explained she was inspired by a restaurant she and her husband visited. "The whole entire waiter staff was middle-aged black men, and they had on beautiful white jackets with a black bow tie. I mean, it was really impressive. That restaurant represented a certain era in America...after the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War...It was not only black men, it was black women...I would say they were slaves."

Her brother Hiers also made problematic statements during the deposition, including using the n-word in reference to President Barack Obama. 

"While Paula and Bubba did make some pretty damaging confessions in their depositions, what they admitted to only scratches the surface of what actually goes on in their daily lives," an insider said to the Enquirer