Getty Images/Aaron Davidson
Earlier Tuesday, the person running Deen's Twitter account tweeted a photo featuring the culinary celebrity and her son, Bobby Deen, dressed up as the characters Ricky and Lucy Ricardo from the television show "I Love Lucy."
The still came from a 2011 episode of "Paula's Best Dishes," according to The Independent.
Deen is sporting Lucy Ricardo's signature red hair with a '50s dress, as has anyone who's ever gone as Lucy for Halloween.
But the photo becomes less cheery when you notice that her son is wearing heavy amounts of brown face makeup in order to look like Ricky Ricardo. Both the "I Love Lucy" character and Desi Arnaz, the actor who played him, were Cuban.
Here's a look at the now deleted tweet, screengrabbed by The Independent.
The Independent/Paula Deen
Deen's son's costume has drawn comparisons to blackface, the theatrical makeup technique whereby white actors would paint their skin darker in order to play stereotypical caricatures of African-Americans. This practice was common in theatre and film through the early 20th century.
Nowadays, it's widely considered racist to use skin-darkening makeup to portray members of a different race. And the response to Deen's tweet reflected that.
People were outraged by the tweet and the image has since been removed. Deen has also fired her social media manager, E! Online reported.
Weren't Paula Deen's sons the one going around saying their mother isn't a racist? and look at one of them now in blackface.
- ?ecca (@MJStarLover) July 7, 2015
Prior to Tuesday's tweet, the photo was also reportedly visible in an album on Deen's Facebook page, The Independent says. The album, entitled "Best Dishes Filming, March 11, 2011," also included photos of Bobby Deen having the brown makeup applied to his face. The entire album has been deleted.
An apology to has been issued on Deen's behalf, E! Online reported.
"Paula immediately had this picture taken down as soon as she saw the post and apologizes to all who were offended. As such, Paula Deen Ventures has terminated their relationship with this Social Media Manager," explained Deen's spokesperson on Tuesday.
This is not the first time Deen has been called racist. In 2013, Deen admitted to using ethnic slurs after a discrimination lawsuit was brought against her by a former employee. The lawsuit has since been dismissed.
#racist Why is Paula Deen's son in black face. Terrible. http://t.co/9tGP7gvrbc pic.twitter.com/ebcChNp8tK
- Cedar Hill (@CedarHillMom) July 7, 2015