After initially staying silent, Oprah Winfrey has finally weighed in on Paula Deen's N-word controversy.
"In the very first days I tried to reach her and then I decided to stay out of it as I saw it blowing up," Winfrey told "Entertainment Tonight.
Winfrey befriended the Food Food Network star in 2012 when Deen appeared on an episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter."
"In time she will be fine. For me, it all just felt kind of sad," Winfrey said.
Deen's career was recently derailed when she reportedly admitted to using the N-word and telling racist jokes.
Winfrey, who is set to star in the upcoming film "The Butler," noted the situation could eventually inspire a helpful conversation about racism in America.
"Nobody in their right mind is going to call me the N-word. You know, you see those fools on Twitter sometimes say ridiculous things. But nobody in their right mind is going to do that to my face, because true racism is being able to have power over somebody else," Winfrey said. "So that doesn't happen to me that way.
"It shows up for me if I'm in a boardroom or situations where I'm the only woman or I'm the only African American person within a hundred mile radius," she said. "I can see in the energy of the people there, they don't sense that I should be holding one of those seats. I can sense that. But I can never tell, 'Is it racism? Is it sexism?'"
While this is the first time Winfrey is weighing in on Deen, it is not the first time she has been outspoken about the use of the N-word.
The talk show queen recently opened up to Parade magazine about how seriously she takes the offensive phrase.
"You cannot be my friend and use that word around me," she said. "It shows my age, but I feel strongly about it...I always think of the millions of people who heard that as their last word as they were hanging from a tree."
