Paula Deen will no longer be returning to the Food Network after her contract runs out, as the network announced Friday she was fired over her admittance to using racial slurs.
When the Food Network announced their decision, they simply said, “Food Network will not renew Paula Deen’s contract when it expires at the end of this month.” The Huffington Post stated there was no further comment when the network representatives were asked.
The announcement came about an hour after Deen posted two apology videos online, as reported by the Huffington Post. The videos addressed the controversy sparked earlier this week when court documents were released about her usage of the N-word. It was reported Deen admitted to using the N-word when asked by an attorney. She defended the usage saying, “It’s been a very long time.”
Deen was questioned over a discrimination claim from a former employee of Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House, which she owns along with her brother Bubba. The New York Times reported the former employee, Lisa Jackson, claimed sexual harassment and a hostile work environment in the restaurant.
Before the firing, the Southern cook decided to skip her scheduled appearance on the Today Show on NBC Friday morning, and instead posted the earlier mentioned videos. Deen begged for forgiveness, saying, “”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.” She then went on to say in a later post, “I want people to understand that my family and I are not the kind of people that the press is wanting to say we are,” the Huffington Post stated.
Deen first started her work with the Food Network in 2002 with the show Paula’s Home Cooking. She also has created a brand for herself with cookbooks and endorsements.