There is a difference between those things.
People have every right to say things that are racist, insulting, sexist, or even simply stupid.
People do NOT have the right to slander which is actionable. For example: Opra has every right to say she will never eat another burger. She has the right to say that she is afraid of getting mad cow disease from eating a Texas grown burger. She does NOT have the right to say that such a problem actually exists unless she can demonstrate that it does. I didn't see the show, but my understanding is that she made no such claim. So what she did was stupid and rude. But not slanderous.
William R. James