Paula Deen: Fans rally as sponsors start to flee
The Paula Deen saga is just beginning, with sponsors and fans choosing sides in the debate surrounding the embattled former Food Network star.聽
To recap: The Food Network canceled Ms. Deen鈥檚 shows and said it wouldn鈥檛 be renewing her contract with the channel after she admitted to using the 鈥淣-word鈥� during a sworn court deposition. The firing was the culmination of a flurry of damaging revelations about the chef, restauranteur, and wildly popular TV personality . The 鈥淣-word鈥� fiasco was a small part of a civil lawsuit alleging a wide array of racist behavior and speech by Deen and her brother, Bubba Piers, by a former employee at the family鈥檚 restaurants.
The Food Network firing, announced Friday afternoon just hours after Deen released two brief, videotaped apologies, was just the beginning. In its wake, several questions about Deen, her fans, and her business interests remain.
Deen鈥檚 camp is still in damage control mode, in all likelihood trying to salvage what鈥檚 left of her once formidable brand. She鈥檚 issued three separate apologies at last count, and she鈥檚 scheduled to appear on the 鈥淭oday" show Wednesday after cancelling on the broadcast last week.聽
Leading up to that appearance, Deen鈥檚 remaining sponsors and business partners are weighing what to do with her. One sponsor, Smithfield Foods, announced Monday that it was cutting ties. Shopping network QVC, which sells a line of Paula Deen cookware, issued a statement saying it 鈥渟hares the concerns being raised around the unfortunate Paula Deen situation,"聽and added, "QVC does not tolerate discriminatory behavior. We are closely monitoring these events and the ongoing litigation. We are reviewing our business relationship with Ms. Deen, and in the meantime, we have no immediate plans to have her appear on QVC.鈥�
Deen鈥檚 cookware may also be in danger from being pulled from several retailers鈥� shelves, including Target, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney, Kmart, and Sears. Sears issued a statement to People magazine Sunday, saying that the retailer was 鈥渃urrently exploring the next steps as they pertain to Ms. Deen鈥檚 products.鈥�
Random House, set to publish a new cookbook of Deen鈥檚 recipes in October, hasn鈥檛 canceled the release, but a spokesman told People the publishing house was 鈥渕onitoring the situation closely.鈥�
Only Novo Nordisk, the insulin maker Deen began endorsing in 2012 amid revelations that she was living with Type 2 diabetes, is standing by her.聽"Paula Deen's still a product spokesperson for the Victoza brand. We recognize the seriousness of these allegations and will follow the legal proceedings closely, staying in contact with her," a company statement read.聽
鈥淏y Friday several more sponsors will have dropped her,鈥� predicts Mike Paul, a New York-based public relations consultant specializing in crisis management. He doesn鈥檛 foresee the 鈥淭oday" show appearance helping matters, because viewers won鈥檛 buy the fact that she underwent a genuine change of heart from what鈥檚 alleged in the lawsuit in a mere matter of days.聽
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see authenticity in it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t looks like she wants it to go away because she got caught. If she goes on the 'Today' show and it seems insincere, she鈥檚 throwing gasoline on the fire.鈥�
Meanwhile, Deen鈥檚 fans have rallied around her in support, lining up to dine at her restaurant in Savannah, Ga., threatening to boycott the Food Network and posting messages of solidarity on Twitter using the hashtag 鈥�#teampaula.鈥�
鈥淚 get it, believe me,鈥� Nicole Green, an African-American customer at Deen鈥檚 鈥淭he Lady and Sons鈥� restaurant, told The New York Times. 鈥淏ut what鈥檚 hard for people to understand is that she didn鈥檛 mean it as racist. It sounds bad, but that鈥檚 not what鈥檚 in her heart. She鈥檚 just from another time.鈥�
Deen鈥檚 background and upbringing have been the flash point issue in the scandal 鈥� her detractors see it as a flimsy excuse, and further evidence that she deserves the backlash she鈥檚 getting. But her supporters argue that such language was 鈥� and is 鈥� common among Southern people of a certain age, and that outright dismissal of that reality (by outsiders) belies a lack of understanding of the racial tensions and dynamics that are a fact of Southern life.
"People of Deen's generation can neither change the past nor completely escape their roots in it, anymore than the rest of us,鈥� John McWhorter wrote in a聽 Time editorial. They can apologize and mean it, as Deen seems to鈥�. She should get her job back.鈥�
鈥淲hat I was most dismayed about this week were the provocations by a number of outspoken people who over-simplified this vast swath of symbolic land called 'The South,鈥� Edward Lee, a chef and former contestant on the reality show 鈥淭op Chef,鈥� wrote on his Facebook page.
The groundswell is growing; the 鈥淲e Support Paula Deen鈥� Facebook page had over 300,000聽 鈥渓ikes鈥� by Monday afternoon. But Mr. Paul argues that Deen and company should be wary of endorsing her chorus of defenders, because while most of the support comes from a genuine place, 聽not all of them may be there for purely 鈥淧aula鈥� reasons: 鈥淭here were many 鈥榝ans鈥� not following Paula until this came up, he says. 鈥淭hey are racists, and you have to be very careful by aligning yourself with them. We still have racism in this country, unfortunately.鈥�
