Tim Allen N-Word: Comedian Defends Paula Deen, Wants To 'Reclaim' Racial Slur

Apparently the censored N-word is worse than the word it's trying to soften. At least, that's what comedian and actor Tim Allen thinks. In a recent interview, the former "Home Improvement" star defended Paula Deen's comments, highlighting the days when comedians like Richard Pryor used the word onstage, the New York Daily News reported.

"I've had this argument on stage a million times," Allen told the Tampa Bay Times. "I do a movie with Martin Lawrence and pretty soon they're referring to me, 'hey my n----r's up.' So I'm the n----r' if I'm around you guys but 7 feet away, if I said n----r, it's not right. It's very confusing to the European mind how that works, especially if I've wither grown up or evolved or whatever, it literally was growing up in Colorado with Hispanics and Angloss, that's all I remember."

He said in the interview that not allowing non-black comedians to use the word onstage was "a step backward" from yesteryear. The interview comes prior to a string of standup performances for the 60-year-old comedian. His defense of Deen was heavily criticized on social media sites, the Indianna Gazette reported. A spokeswoman later released a statement saying that it wasn't Allen's intention to offend anyone.