Celebrity News June 21, 2013
Paula Deen Apologizes for Racial Slurs
UPDATE: The Food Network will not renew Paula's contract when it expires at the end of the month, reports TMZ.
Celebrity chef Paula Deen apologized for her recent admission in a controversial discrimination lawsuit deposition that she has used racial slurs.
Deen released a video statement in which she addresses the controversy, and insists she does not tolerate prejudice.
“I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done,” she said. “I want to learn and grow from this. Inappropriate and 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.”
The Food Network star was to make an appearance on the "Today" show on Friday but did not show up. Lauer told “Today” show viewers, "We just found out, she's a no-show. She has not called us at all this morning."
A rep for Deen told Lauer she was "exhausted," reports NY Daily News.
The 66-year-old was asked on May 17 about her discriminatory attitude toward a former restaurant manager, Lisa Jackson, at Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House -- owned by Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers.
In the deposition, Deen says she has used the N-word in the past, but added, "That's just not a word that we use as time has gone on. Things have changed since the '60s in the South. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do. Bubba and I, neither one of us, care what the color of your skin is. It's what's in your heart and in your head that matters to us."
