Paula Deen fans vent their outrage at Food Network

[onehandle]

Source: AP



SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Watching Paula Deen's cooking show was a weekend ritual for Marilynne Wilson, who says she's furious at the Food Network for dumping the comfort-food queen after she acknowledged using racial slurs in the past.

"I was shocked. I thought she'd get a fair trial," Wilson, a nurse from Jacksonville, Fla., said Saturday after stopping to buy souvenirs at the gift shop Deen owns next to her Savannah restaurant. "I think the Food Network jumped the gun."

A day after announcing that it's dropping Deen from its roster of celebrity cooks, the cable network was served heaping portions of Southern fried outrage by her fans.

Angry messages piled up Saturday on the network's Facebook page, with many Deen fans threating to change the channel for good. "So good-bye Food Network," one viewer wrote. "I hope you fold like an accordion!!!"

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130622_ap_cdbadd698b1348e0b8676e0aa6d17bf4.html

---

'I was shocked. I thought she'd get a fair trial'

So, her fans thought she had a good reason to be an ignorant racist?

[Kolesar]

1. I was disgusted when A&E broadcast their "pro handgun" propaganda

Bill Kurtis produced this propaganda that American women were in imminent risk of being robbed or murdered if they didn't get a pistol and a concealed carry license.

[Cirque du So-What]

11. He's George Clooney's first cousin, yunno

Two acorns who appear to have dropped on opposite sides of the tree, ideologically speaking.

[kelliekat44]

88. Actually I think the Food Network had decided she may have been a drain after the revelation of her

diabetes. They wanted a way to drop her and she helped.

[Buzz Clik]

2. Oh, hell yes! We never learned how to make Sambo Burgers!

[Orrex]

3. An excerpt from Deen's cornerstone speech on this subject:

Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition.

[Deep13]

4. That's Alexander Stevens. nt

[Orrex]

13. Whoops! Silly me!

How could I have made such an error?

[Deep13]

61. 'Cause racism is racism? nt

[movonne]

39. Nazi talk...the superior race...we are all humans

with different color skin...some smart, some dumb...

[Deep13]

62. Except Nazis didn't invent racism.

Racism was created by settler-colonialism in the New World.

[cstanleytech]

5. No OP, they probably meant fair as in wait until the trial is over to see if she is found to be

guilty of what she is accused of now rather than being found guilty and pilloried as some here on the DU are doing before the trial is even over for things she has acknowledged she might have said who knows how many years ago.
Otherwise I am indifferent to her show being canceled as I dont watch her show at all and when I do watch any of the cooking channels its usually to watch Chopped and very occasionally Iron Chef America.

[yardwork]

9. She was fired for what she said in the deposition

She's not on trial for the words in her deposition. Her words are a matter of written public record. She signed the deposition.

[cstanleytech]

15. Yes, I am aware of it however I was addressing the OP regarding the quoted part of

"'I was shocked. I thought she'd get a fair trial'" that they used.

[yardwork]

67. I don't understand your post then.

Dean was fired for what she said in her deposition. There won't be a trial for that. She said it. She signed the written record of her words.

[cstanleytech]

71. "I don't understand your post then."

Sorry, I tried my best to explain it to you once if you didnt get it then I really doubt 2nd times a charm.
Or in other words "What we've got here is a failure to communicate".

[Atman]

6. She churned her own butter

By having young black children chase tigers around trees.

[Deep13]

7. Well, one can like her TV work, but not like her personally.

One of my favorite entertainment personalities is Mike Nelson from Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the 1990s and Riff Trax lately. He is extremely right wing in his thinking to the extent of sending a LTTE of Vanity Fair 2001? essentially accusing Democrats of being children. But that really has nothing to do with his entertainment work.

BTW, one gets a fair trial--so to speak--for a criminal prosecution. Getting fired is not a criminal penalty in this country. If I were working at a drug store and a customer overheard me say some racist remark, no one would give me a trial before the boss fired me.

[graham4anything]

8. One things for sure, Deen and Zimmy, are tied into this together.

If one is against Zimmy as I am, I am against and aghast at what Paula Deen did.

One against Deen cannot in any way support Zimmy.

[Comrade Grumpy]

37. Non sequitur.

[Iggo]

48. Performance art.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

51. Huh?

[NoGOPZone]

54. What does Bob Dylan have to do with any of this? nt

[Codeine]

68. Kids say the darndest things. . . nt

[Dr. Strange]

82. Michael Bloomberg and Rand Paul are conjoined twins.

[koiwoman53]

10. Butttah anyone?

My husband and I ate at her old location in Savannah years ago. Her food was so greasy we got acid reflux before we left the restaurant. This was before she hit the big time with the Food Network. I really can't imagine it's any better today.

[Eleanors38]

12. Hooo-WEE! The culture wars have reached the kitchen.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. "I thought she would get a fair trial"...

Last edited Sun Jun 23, 2013, 03:18 PM - Edit history (1)

That is not Food Networks job. They are under no obligation to keep her.

[cstanleytech]

16. Oh I completely agree its not their job and from purely a business standpoint throwing her

under the bus as it were was the smart thing to do though I will make you a bet she is back within a year or two after the trial, I mean heck A&E brought back the Dog after his racist filled comments remember?

[tofuandbeer]

41. I'm guessing they'll bring her back when the public forgets the whole thing.

They're just thinking about their advertisers.

[Squinch]

17. I would not be surprised if she becomes some tea bag cause celebre.

[Kolesar]

18. More cuddly than Don Imus ... eom

[Beacool]

19. I've read that she's a Democrat who voted for Obama.

That's why the Freepers are rejoicing. Pardoning the pun, things are usually not in black and white. People are complex.

Just saying............

[Squinch]

20. Gosh. I would never have known that about things not always being black and white if you hadn't

told me.



....just saying.

[Beacool]

34. Screw your sarcasm.

Just saying...........

[Squinch]

49. And your condescension

[Mika]

22. Agree. She had Jimmy Carter on as a guest a while back and was fawning over him.

Maybe Dixiecrat more accurately describes her.

[cstanleytech]

31. "Maybe Dixiecrat more accurately describes her." Or maybe just human?

[csziggy]

38. And she had Michelle Obama on during the 2008 election

[primavera]

30. All the more reason she should be corrected

How can we criticize repukes for racism if we don't keep our own house clean?

[Turbineguy]

23. All they have to say

is that the White House made a phone call....

[alarimer]

63. Just like Chik-fil-A.

It's like they are stubborn children, and "liberal political correctness" is taking their toys away.

But I repeat, I have heard Rush Limbaugh say much worse things about liberals or Democrats or African Americans (though I guess he doesn't actually use the N-word, so maybe by that simple standard he isn't that bad) and stay on the air. So in that case, those radio stations stand to make money with him, even if some advertisers leave, than they would trying to put someone else there.

There are plenty of people (mainly in the South, I'm surrounded by them here) who are just so bitter and enraged at things changing that they really, really resent what they call political correctness. Again, they are like children who think they should be able to say whatever the hell they want to anyone at any time and not be taken to task for it.

Now, they are ignorant and stupid, but not necessarily evil. I think really this is a tempest in a teapot and doesn't really get to the heart of the problem, which is that, while things have on the whole improved, we are still a long way from being okay with racial and ethnic diversity. We jump on someone for saying things like this, yet we do very little to actually change attitudes, beyond saying "Well, you really shouldn't use those words."

Maybe I'm a cynic, but I doubt this will change much. In 18 months or so, she will be on a public apology tour and sooner or later back on TV. In our short attention span, we will have forgotten. And maybe that's okay, because there really are bigger fish to fry.

Our governments, state and federal, are in the process right this minute of rolling back the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court is about to rule on a case that may set voting rights back a generation and all we can do is argue about someone's use of the N-word.

Incidentally, lost on all this discussion, is the fact that this is a SEXUAL HARASSMENT case and involved the use of terms derogatory to women. So women, as per usual, don't count in this discussion. Because it's still very much okay to be sexist.

[TreasonousBastard]

21. But no outrage over the good chefs they dumped over the years...

a couple might have gone over to the sister Cooking Channel, or whatever it's called but nobody gets. Mario Batali and a couple of others whose names I forget for the moment are who should be missed, but the channel hasn't been about fine cooking for a while.

I thought they should have fired her ass when she covered up the diabetes, which was at least partially due to her diet.

[cstanleytech]

32. Would you please explain why they should have fired her for that exactly?

I mean I could understand if she had been saying "Cooking my way will help you avoid diabetes" but she didnt did she?

[TreasonousBastard]

70. High fat high carb diets cannot be proven to cause...

diabetes, but they certainly encourage it. And such a diet is an absolute no-no if you get it.

Dean continued to revel in everything from bacon to licking chocolate from the fountain after she was diagnosed and it is extremely bad form to giggle and promote such a diet when it could very likely kill you and a large part of your audience.

It's not that she has diabetes, it's that she lied about it for years just to make a buck.

[cstanleytech]

72. Oh, my apologies as

I didnt realize that she was under an obligation to disclose her medical details.

[TreasonousBastard]

77. Don't go there- medical confidentiality is not absolute...

unless you would prefer that Typhoid Mary kept working in cafeterias.

Yes, I know this is not the same thing, but her condition is related to her message that fat and sugar is fun and good for you. She was lying.

[cstanleytech]

81. "She was lying." Ok I honestly never watched her show so do you happen to have a link

to an episode where she did that?

[Nanjing to Seoul]

24. The US Government is spying on Americans and people are up and arms over some person

on a network that produces shows that could put people in a coma to sleep?

What the hell is a Paula Deen? Why should we care? And I feel dirty even knowing that name!

[Politicub]

26. People are able to walk and chew gum at the same time

The two issues that you (weirdly) lump into the same boat are in completely different spheres. Oddly, though, you somehow link them.

[Kolesar]

59. You should go underground and get off the internet if you are so concerned ... eom

[Chakab]

76. It's another distraction created by the media

to take the focus off of real issues. Now you've got people arguing about whether not she's racist and whether or not she should keep her cooking show.

It's mind-boggling that "serious" news outlets don't get taken to task for running garbage stories like this. You should be hearing about Paula Deen on Extra and TMZ not CNN.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

80. CNN = Certainly Not News

[Politicub]

25. She brought all of this on herself

I guess there are a handful of people who will turn off the Food Network because it doesn't have enough racists as hosts.

The network doesn't even want to go there and answer questions about why they're keeping her show on after the news about the slur came out. Can't say that I blame them.

[HockeyMom]

27. Didn't like her cooking

way too much butter and sugar for my taste. I did watch sometimes when her son, Bobby, cooked with her and made her recipes lighter. I heard this is not going to affect Bobby, but "Not my Momma's Recipes" may need a new title now?

[Faygo Kid]

28. She's a Democrat, and supported Obama

She's also a 66 year old Georgia woman who at some times in her life has expressed racist tendencies, which she regrets.

This is just about the biggest overkill story I can remember. I resent her more for her (admittedly delicious) unhealthy food and hiding her type 2 diabetes for three years.

Karl Rove is still out there. Fox News, Rush and Hannity are still out there. The GOP House is still out there. I will spend my time attacking them, rather than Paula Deen.

[Beacool]

36. What you said.

[shireen]

52. agreed

if this story was put in proper context, no one would be paying attention to it. People, especially in their youth, say things without giving much thought about what it means and who it hurts--sometimes, it's repeating what their parents and other adults say. But as they mature, their views change, hopefully for the better. I'm not crazy about her calorie-rich cooking. But I don't believe she is a racist.

[Kingofalldems]

60. Yep.

[eissa]

87. "This is just about the biggest overkill story I can remember."

Last edited Mon Jun 24, 2013, 07:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Yes, it is. She's an older woman who grew up in the segregated South. Were her comments horrendous? No doubt. I don't believe they were malicious. She strikes me as being a very clueless, apolitical woman who loves food. Speaking of her food -- yes, it's high in fat, sugar and butter. That's her shtick. She's hardly the only one. I have a cookie recipe from Barefoot Contessa that contains 3 sticks of butter. You know what? They're fucking awesome. Everyone I make it for LOVES them. Not all chefs on these cooking programs are vegans making gluten-free pasta with tofu and flaxseed (thank God.)

[Zoeisright]

89. Oh my god that is the stupidest thing I have ever read.

Paula Deen is the ultimate example of what is wrong with this country. Racism is alive and well and hidden beneath a sugary exterior.

This story has legs because of hidden racism. She is getting exactly what she deserves; actually, she can live a fabulous life because she made so much money off the goodwill of the public and she should lose that money.

Read the deposition before you jump to such stupid conclusions. Her "empire" is built on racism, sexism, abuse, and discrimination. THAT is what this is all about. And anyone who supports her is completely ignorant.

[MrMickeysMom]

29. You DO understand that anything "Food Network" does is related to quarterly profits...

... rather than whether or not a host like Paula girl is a good ole girl who was brought up on racism, don't you?

They couldn't care less if she was and it didn't hurt "ratings".

Meanwhile, I have to say that the Paula Deen cookware I got a few years ago is already warping. I should get Rachael Ray or something made in USA, if that's possible.

Yee-haw, ya'll!

[cstanleytech]

33. Mmm I have seen her cookware for sale in walmart cant say its appealed to me as

it seemed to be cheaply made.
Now if I had the money I would love to be able to buy a bunch of enameled cast iron by Le Creuset but that stuff is way out of my price range lol

[Beacool]

42. I have a few pieces of Le Creuset.

They are expensive, but worth the money because they last a lifetime. If you can't afford to buy them new, try eBay.

[MrMickeysMom]

75. You and me, cs...

I think I'd love Le Creuset AND a new kitchen... maybe next year...

[kentauros]

84. Try Chefs Catalog:

Chefs Catalog - Cookware
You'll have to research which brands are made in America, but that shouldn't be too hard
My 3-qt Cuisinart saucepan is excellent, while the 20-year-old carbon-steel wok-pan I have (I think it's made in USA) is my primary "workhorse" pan.

Both Consumer Reports and Cooks Illustrated have excellent reviews of cookware and utensils.

You might also look at new/used restaurant supply stores

[MrMickeysMom]

85. Hey, thanks!

It's really an investment. I'll get to looking while I'm still dreaming of the kitchen re-do. That Paula cookware's pissing me off...

[kentauros]

86. You're welcome!

I hope you find what you need, and of good quality

[amuse bouche]

35. There is a lot more coming out

For example, one former employee said she referred to them as my little monkey'

There was this video on an interview in NY that is stunning in stupidity

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/paula-deen-racism_n_3480720.html

She tells a sad story of her great grandpa, Plantation owner, going in the barn, after the Civil War, and killing himself because he lost all his 'workers' aka slaves

Of course it never dawned on him that he could actually pay people to work his Plantation

[former9thward]

40. Senator Robert Byrd used the N word on a national broadcast.

Funny how some were so willing to excuse that but want to dump on Deen for admitting she used the word at some point much before Byrd did. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/03/04/byrd.slur/

[Fearless]

44. Who has excused that?

[former9thward]

50. I have seen it refered to here and other places.

No, I don't have it 'bookmarked'. And people have posted that he "made a mistake" and "that he has reformed" and "he's old and that is just how they talked then". I don't believe in the N word use by anyone -- including black so-called rappers and other "artists". I think if people are to be shunned for using that word the same should apply to everyone.

[KansDem]

57. Sen. Byrd was a Klan recruiter...

Robert Byrd[edit]

Senator Robert Byrd was a Kleagle, a Klan recruiter, in his 20s and 30s.West Virginia's Democratic United States Senator Robert C. Byrd was a recruiter for the Klan while in his 20s and 30s, rising to the title of Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops of his local chapter. After leaving the group, Byrd spoke in favor of the Klan during his early political career. Though he claimed to have left the organization in 1943, Byrd wrote a letter in 1946 to the group's Imperial Wizard stating "The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." Byrd defended the Klan in his 1958 U.S. Senate campaign when he was 41 years old.[8]

Despite being the only Senator to vote against both African American U.S. Supreme Court nominees (liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas) and filibustering the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Byrd has since said joining the Klan was his "greatest mistake." The NAACP gave him a 100% rating on their issues during the 108th Congress.[9] However, in a 2001 incident Byrd repeatedly used the phrase "white niggers" on a national television broadcast.

[10]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_members_in_United_States_politics

[lunasun]

73. Exalted Cyclops

[Chakab]

78. Yeah, because nobody has EVER criticised Robert Byrd

for what he said during that interview and his past membership in the KKK was NEVER mentioned.

Look, I agree that this should be a non-story, but being obtuse and using revisionist history doesn't make you look very clever.

[former9thward]

79. I am not entirely sure what you mean by revisionist history.

As far as posts not being very clever I'm sure at least 95% of my posts fall into that category.

[kestrel91316]

43. Wow. One of her RW fans doesn't understand how capitalism works, lol:

'I was shocked. I thought she'd get a fair trial'

Hey, sweetcakes, she wasn't accused of a criminal violation of a statute. She was being laughed at and derided for behaving like an ignorant ass.

There IS a difference.

[DainBramaged]

45. What were they doing throwing meat at the studio?

[lunatica]

46. I'm sure she now has some die hard teabaggeratti fans

[JaneFordA]

47. Food Network is great at dishing out hypocrisy

If they're going to boot Deen, why didn't they do at least as much when Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) stirred up all that fracas not so long ago? Snubbing the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the request of a dying child RECENTLY seems at least as insensitive and prima donna-ish as Deen's "use of the n-word in the past."

Shows up the Food Network for what it is, to my way of thinking.

[broadcaster75201]

53. Her going off the air probably saved heir lives. nt

nt

[Agschmid]

55. I just think its interesting they thought you get a trial...

For this kind of this.

Makes me wonder how smart the American public really is?

[FloridaBlues]

56. Foodnet work

Their lawyers probably read the deposition of lisa Jackson to get the entire picture of what Paula is facing at trial. I suggest every take the time to read it if your interested in the story
It's an eye opener how she and brother bubba treat their employee's.

[Ash_F]

58. Tomorrow's headline: Thousands of Paula Dean Fans Hospitalized from Rage Induce Heart Attacks

[Spitfire of ATJ]

69. They are all suffering from "the vapors".

[lib87]

64. These Racist Apologist Tears Over Paula Deen's Firing

They hydrate me thoroughly.

[StrayKat]

65. Was she fired specifically for the deposition?

Was Deen fired specifically for what she said in the deposition or for a series of bad decisions and deeds like Deen's diabetes announcement and drug endorsement debacle, creating and encouraging a hostile work environment and culture that permitted racism and sexism, and whatever she did and said on the outtakes that Deen and her lawyers are withholding?

[Zen Democrat]

66. Actually, Food Network claimed it was because she had a breakdown and stood up the Today Show.

[PatrynXX]

74. Opinion on the end is full of hate you know

'I was shocked. I thought she'd get a fair trial'

So, her fans thought she had a good reason to be an ignorant racist?.... WTF??

She isn't!! Get with it. sheesh. Bigot


Your living in the wrong country pal. Even on Aflac it took a bit before he got fired. this was done before the shit hit the floor. Meaning they probably did it long before she uttered the word. like way off whenever. So if she was 40 I'd understand but 66. Just ageism crap

[Myrina]

83. More proof that we are now a cult of personality vs. a country of common sense/respect/laws

Sigh

[Doctor_J]

90. Dear whiny racists - it's capitalism

Keeping the Cholesterol Queen on the network would have caused blowback that would have cost them $$. that's why she was shit-canned. You should be hailing the Free Market at work.