Author Topic: Food Network Won’t Renew Paula Deen’s Contract After N-Word Racial Slur Dilemma  (Read 850 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Online mystery-ak

  • Owner
  • Administrator
  • ******
  • Posts: 395,713
  • Let's Go Brandon!
http://www.deadline.com/2013/06/nyt-food-network-wont-renew-paula-deens-contract-after-racial-slur-dilemma/

Food Network Won’t Renew Paula Deen’s Contract After N-Word Racial Slur Dilemma
By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday June 21, 2013 @ 1:58pm PDT

BREAKING… The Food Network told Deadline just now that it would not renew Paula Deen’s contract when it expires at the end of June. The announcement came following the popular Southern comfort food cook’s no-show for an interview on The Today Show and release of a pair of videos apologizing for her use of racial slurs — including the N-word — stemming from a 2012 discrimination lawsuit and specifically a May 17th deposition filed Monday in U.S. District Court. This follows another Deen controversy when she revealed in 2012 that her high-suger, high-fat, high-calorie cooking had caused her to become a Type 2 diabetic — and then immediately began hawking drugs for the disease in profitable endorsement deals. But that backlash was nothing compared to the public outrage over this latest scandal. The Food Network did issue a statement on the matter early on, saying the channel “does not tolerate any form of discrimination and is a strong proponent of diversity and inclusion. We will continue to monitor the situation.” Today the Food Network did not say why Deen was dropped. But a media frenzy mounted over the revelations in that deposition for the lawsuit filed by a former manager of one of Deen’s family restaurants. In the document, Deen admitted that in her past she used racial slurs in her family life and tolerated racist jokes in the workplace, all of which ran counter to her beloved image. It also sparked a national debate about what constitutes ”acceptable” old and new Southern attitudes towards race.

Deen was scheduled for an exclusive on-camera “open and candid” interview with Today‘s Matt Lauer widely prompted by NBC, but then begged off via a publicist citing exhaustion after she flew to NYC. The 66-year-old Savannah, GA, became an instant hit on The Food Network when she debuted since then she’s become an empire in publishing, on cable, and in food preparation. She even made The Food Network into a family affair by installing her two sons into their own shows. But a social media-launched onslaught enveloped Deen over the deposition’s disclosures even though she said that she had not used the N-word in the restaurant and that she and her family did not tolerate prejudice. It seemed on the surface to be a survivable scandal — but it clearly wasn’t. Not even when today she posted an emotional 46-second video on YouTube filled with apologies. Then that video was taken down and replaced by a more measured response from her. Watch it here:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkwbyNKC9Kg&feature=player_embedded
Proud Supporter of Tunnel to Towers
Support the USO
Democrat Party...the Party of Infanticide

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
-Matthew 6:34

Online mystery-ak

  • Owner
  • Administrator
  • ******
  • Posts: 395,713
  • Let's Go Brandon!
http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs/buzz/2013/jun/21/paula-deen-releases-video-statement/

Posted: 1:11 p.m. Friday, June 21, 2013
Paula Deen fired by Food Network, investigated by Jesse Jackson's group

By Jennifer Brett
Paula Deen is being fired by the Food Network and investigated by The Rev. Jesse Jackson's organization, just as she issued a very short, matter-of-fact statement via video regarding her acknowledged use of a racial slur in the past.

The network said in a news release Friday afternoon that it would not renew Deen's contract when it expires at the end of the month, the AP reported.

In other news, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.'s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition has announced it will launch its own investigation. The group  “will take a closer look at Paula Deen's company to determine whether the allegations are credible, and if so, do they constitute a widespread pattern or practice of illegal exclusion. It may also be relevant to determine whether the company has any state or federal contracts. We are not making any assumptions about these very serious charges, but we are investigating and will report our findings publicly," Rainbow/PUSH vice president Janice L. Mathis said in a statement.

The folksy television chef and cookbook author, who was born in Albany in southwest Georgia in 1947, acknowledged during a recent deposition that she had used a racial slur "a very long time" ago. The revelation sparked a controversy. An Associated Press story wondered if the controversy could damage her image along with her cookbook-cookware-television empire while E! asked its readers to vote on whether Deen "will be able to bounce back from her alleged racist scandal."


Deen was to address the matter on Friday morning but scotched a planned "Today Show" appearance.

In the video, released Friday afternoon, Deen said the following:

"I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done. I want to learn and grow from this. Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way but I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners. I beg for your forgiveness. Please forgive me for the mistakes that I have made."

She appeared to choke up toward the end.

Deen and her brother are being sued by a former employee who claims she "worked in a hostile environment rife with innuendo and racial slurs," according to AP.

Deen's attorney William Franklin said in a previous statment:  "Contrary to media reports, Ms. Deen does not condone or find the use of racial epithets acceptable."
Proud Supporter of Tunnel to Towers
Support the USO
Democrat Party...the Party of Infanticide

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
-Matthew 6:34

Online mystery-ak

  • Owner
  • Administrator
  • ******
  • Posts: 395,713
  • Let's Go Brandon!
Todd Starnes
Jesse Jackson launches investigation of Paula Deen.

Folks, it's open season on Southerners.
Proud Supporter of Tunnel to Towers
Support the USO
Democrat Party...the Party of Infanticide

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
-Matthew 6:34