Paula Deen's Son Bobby Headed to Food Network as Celeb Chef Denies Asking Employee to Wear Aunt Jemima-Style Dress

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Paula Deen's son is filling the family's empty Food Network shoes while his mother continues to field the sorts of claims that got her kicked off the channel in the first place.

Bobby Deen, host of Not My Mama's Meals on Cooking Channel, apparently entered the heat of battle on Iron Chef America this week.

"I'm thinking about my brother boy this morning. He's filming an episode of Iron Chef today! #pressure," his brother Jamie Deen tweeted yesterday. The reveal prompted an outpouring of social media support for Bobby, including love from the still-chugging "We Support Paula Deen" Facebook page, which now boasts 608,000 "likes."

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Deen's sons remain two of her biggest supporters, with Jamie tweeting a blast-from-the-past pic of the three of them today.

"With all the cookbook talk I thought this photo from our first book would be a fun #ThrowBackThursday. #family," he wrote.

But while food blog Eater.com has a Food Network source saying that the embattled celeb chef will be "back in a year or two, under different terms," Deen had to ward off yet more claims this week that she made racist comments to a former employee.

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Dora Charles, who works at Deen's Savannah, Ga., restaurant Lady & Sons, told the New York Times that her former boss used racial slurs and once asked her to wear an old-style Aunt Jemima dress at the restaurant.

Deen's camp denied the allegations in a statement to the Times, also saying, "Fundamentally Dora's complaint is not about race but about money. It is about an employee that despite over 20 years of generosity feels that she still deserves yet even more financial support from Paula Deen." 

Deen "provided guidance and support through the many ups and downs of Mrs. Charles's life," the statement continued. 

VIDEO: Watch Paula Deen tearfully deny being racist on Today

Charles, 59, reportedly helped open Lady & Sons and has spent years developing recipes, perfecting dishes and training other employees.

"I'm not trying to portray that she is a bad person," Charles told the Times. "I'm just trying to put my story out there that she didn't treat me fairly and I was her soul sister." She said that she used to work for $10 an hour and that Deen had once promised to take her along for the financial ride when she really made it big.

READ: 9 stars who bounced back from scandal

Per the Times, lawyers from Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition investigated Lady & Sons and issued a report stating, "There was evidence of systemic racial discrimination and harassment at the operations." But "there is limited evidence of direct racism or racial discrimination" by Deen.

Jackson, meanwhile, was reportedly contacted by Deen last month and agreed that she should be "reclaimed rather than destroyed" after it was revealed that she admitted in a legal deposition to having used the N-word in the past.

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Paula Deen Fans Send Butter Wrappers to Retailers That Dropped the Celeb Chef

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Walmart, Kmart and Sears are just a few retailers that will be receiving a number of butter wrappers in the mail.

In an effort to butter up (get it?) the companies that dropped Paula Deen after her N-word controversy, fans of the celeb chef have taken part in what's called "Butter for Paula," where they are encouraged to send butter wrappers with a written message to the stores to show their support for the Southern cook (fun fact: Deen released her own line of butter shortly before the scandal).

According to the website created for the movement, "A company without Paula is like a wrapper without butter," and continues to state, "These corporations have cut ties with Paula, and no longer broadcast her television shows, or carry her products. We have the power to demand that her status be reinstated, and it's easier than you think.

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"Join the National Butter Wrappers for Paula Protest now to tell these corporations that you want Paula Deen back on the shelves and back on your television."

The campaign has been organized by John Schmitt, a hotel auditor in Indianapolis, who has also started a Facebook page called "We support Paula Deen" on June 21 that already has more than 600,000 "likes."

Additionally, Schmitt joined Stitches ‘N Dishes, a California food truck company, to sell Paula Deen products and give the proceeds to Deen's charity, The Bag Lady Foundation.

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Schmitt wrote on the Facebook page, "'I think back on those tough times and remember how hard we worked to pull ourselves up by our boot-straps. It was a difficult time for us, but an experience that made me and my sons stronger.'~ Paula Deen.

"And, that's why she named The Bag Lady Foundation after her first business. The foundation is Paula's passion - she created it to help people in poverty and empower them. Stitches 'n Dishes is sponsoring a fundraiser for The Bag Lady Foundation. Give what you can, if you can. Even sharing this helps tremendously. They've also got some nice Paula Deen products as gifts for contributions over $50. :-)"

VIDEO: Watch Paula Deen's tearful Today Show interview

Nearly a dozen companies have cut ties with Deen—including JCPenney, Walgreens, QVC and The Food Network—after admitting to past use of the N-word and to telling what could be perceived as racist jokes during an admission in a video deposition as part of a $1.2 million lawsuit filed against her by a former employee.

Since the scandal and witnessing her career crumble, Deen has fired her agent and legal team and hired an entire new group of legal "heavy hitters" to take on the case.

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