She was sued by a person claiming that Paula Deen treated them bad at her restaurant as an employee. That person also said that Deen said the N-word in jokes. And the rest. Deen admitted it all in a deposition. So the story hit the web and the fire started burning. This was not just a concocted story and Deen admits the whole thing.
If she didn’t say the N-word this would have been a non-story.
But in today’s America, a white person saying that word is the worst possible crime you can commit.