Here's Why You Don't Hear From Paula Deen Any More

Paula Deen was the face of Southern hospitality for 10 years. Overcoming personal adversity, this mother-of-two rolled up her sleeves to launch and run her own businesses, and write several cookbooks. Her instantly recognizable shock of platinum hair and piercing blue eyes, a bubbly personality, and all those comforting recipes were the perfect combo for a successful TV career — as well as several lucrative partnerships with major brands.

Then (almost overnight) it all turned sour. Details of Deen's comments in a deposition for a lawsuit that made ugly claims of racial abuse and sexual assault were made public. Even though the former case was dropped and the latter was settled, the damage was done: The queen of butter's warm and kooky image had been shattered.

Or was it? Let's dig into Deen's rise to fame and swift fall from grace and find out why — in the face of a scandal that would have ruined other public figures — her culinary career isn't quite as dead and buried as her critics might think. 

Food was an important part of Albany-born Paula Deen's life, right from the get-go. Her mother and grandmother owned a restaurant in River Bend and, as a teenager, she tried to help out but her mom wasn't impressed. Deen told Good Housekeeping, "Well, I wasn't in there five minutes before she said, 'OK, honey, you have to go now.' I made her so nervous she was about ready to throw up."

The experience put Deen off cooking until she was 18 and she married her first husband, Jimmy Deen. "It didn't take me long to realize that Mama was not going to show up at my house every day and cook," she quipped. Five years later, she was a mother to sons Jamie and Bobby, and struggling with depression. Deen also suffered panic attacks after the deaths of her parents in 1970, which spiraled into full-blown agoraphobia. 

Cooking became a coping mechanism, and while she found solace among recipes such as home-made tomato sauce and banana pudding, it couldn't save her marriage. By 1989, she and James divorced — his drinking had descended into abusive behavior. And Deen moved to Savannah, Georgia with her two sons. There, a whole new chapter was about to open for the trio.

Although she came from relatively humble stock, the 'rags' part of Paula Deen's journey to riches arguably began after she arrived in Savannah, Georgia and with just $200 in her wallet. With two children to support, Deen took a job in a hospital but, in her spare time, decided to put those hours she'd spent in the kitchen to good use. 

She launched The Bag Lady, selling home-made lunches to her medical co-workers, with Jamie and Bobby working as delivery boys. Dubbed "lunch and love in a bag,"the service was a hit — and in 1991, Deen took over the running of a Best Western restaurant on Abercorn Street. The decision proved to be life-changing, as she was forced to confront and eventually conquer her agoraphobia. Five years later, the ribbon was cut on The Lady, Deen's own Savannah restaurant.

Like the lunch business, it was a family operation, and Jamie and Bobby's unwavering support was rewarded five years later with the move to a bigger location and a new name: The Lady and Sons. With a menu including pulled pork and the ever-popular chicken tenders (a favorite of Taylor Swift), the restaurant enjoyed a roaring trade, so much so that, in 1998, Deen was inspired to self-publish a collection of her favorite recipes in "The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook."

Hard work and grit had taken Paula Deen this far, but the next stage in her career came thanks to a stroke of pure luck. A diner at her restaurant happened to be a literary agent and, after spotting her self-pub'd cookbook, it was picked up by a major publisher. Deen's profile got a huge boost from the QVC shopping channel, where nearly 70,000 copies of her book sold in a single day. 

Viewers lapped up her Southern charm and, thanks to producer and TV personality Gordon Elliott, more guest slots followed until in 2001, Deen filmed "Afternoon Tea," a pilot for the Food Network. The following year a new series, "Paula's Home Cooking" premiered. Deen was on her way.

Throughout the 2000s, Deen was a regular fixture in American homes. As well as winning an Emmy for outstanding lifestyle host in 2007, she also presented "Paula's Party," which ran from 2006 to 2008. The latter year also saw a separate series, "Paula's Best Dishes" grace TV screens. At the same time, she created a lifestyle magazine Cooking with Paula Deen, and found time to publish several cookbooks: "Paula Deen Celebrates!: Best Dishes and Best Wishes for the Best Times of Your Life," "The Deen Family Cookbook," and "Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible," as well as her memoir "It Ain't All About the Cooking." Deen had made it: She was a bona fide household name. However, cracks in her hard-won popularity were about to appear.

Paula Deen had built her culinary reputation on her repertoire of Southern recipes, such as gooey, decadent brownies and her cheese-laden potato casserole, many of which call for lots of unhealthy fats and sugar. She even showcased her love of the ingredient in an episode of "Paula's Party" called Everything's Better with Butter.

But, unbeknown to her army of fans, Deen had been diagnosed with type II diabetes in 2009. Per ABC News, she told USA Today in 2012: "I made the choice at the time to keep it close to me, to keep it close to my chest. I felt like I had nothing to offer anybody other than the announcement. I wasn't armed with enough knowledge." The backlash was swift, with globe-trotting chef Anthony Bourdain among Deen's harshest critics, telling TV Guide (per CBS News) that she was the "worst, most dangerous person to America."

Astonishingly, Deen turned the PR disaster into a positive news story, partnering with Novo Nordisk — the company behind Ozempic – on a campaign to raise awareness about diabetes. She told Dr. Oz per People magazine how she threw out 'white' foods like bread, rice, and pasta after her diagnosis, reintroducing them after four months. "The thing that I'm really trying to focus on is moderation ... Eat a cookie, just don't eat six of 'em!"

In 2013, Dora Charles, who had worked with Paula Deen for 22 years, including at the Lady & Sons restaurant, gave a candid interview to The New York Times. She claimed that, while Deen's success saw her rake in $17 million in 2012, Charles earned just $10 per hour, and felt degraded when told to ring a bell in front of the restaurant and shout for customers to "come and get it."

Deen was also hit by a lawsuit from Lisa Jackson, the ex-general manager of Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, owned by Deen and her brother Earl Wayne Hiers Jr., known as Bubba.  Jackson claimed she had been sexually harassed and suffered racial discrimination — and although neither case made it to court, Deen's deposition was made public, including her admission that she had previously used racial slurs while planning her brother's wedding. 

If the diabetes criticism had been harsh, it was an amuse bouche compared to the fall-out from this scandal. Deen quickly issued an apology on YouTube (per WSJ), and appeared on "TODAY" to tearily reiterate her mea culpa, but it didn't prevent major brands including Walmart, JCPenney, Sears, and Target from cutting ties. Even worse, the Food Network declined to renew her contract. Finance expert Michael Dinich told Newsweek: "Some estimate she lost around $12 million in canceled deals alone."

The scandal didn't just affect Paula Deen. Her brother Bubba (aka Earl Wayne Hiers Jr.), whose wedding plans had been part of the deposition fiasco, hadn't just helped his sister to success. He was also the owner of Uncle Bubba's Oyster House and penned the cookbook "Uncle Bubba's Savannah Seafood," with a foreword written by Deen.

In the introduction, Bubba wrote: "Without Paula's support, sensible advice, and unconditional love, I'd probably be a lost soul." However, her tainted reputation would also impact him. In 2014, after 10 years in business, his restaurant closed, unable to weather the media storm. Author Polly Powers Stramm, who co-wrote Hiers' cookbook, told the Daily Mail. "He was pretty talented in his own right. He could cook and all that, hunt and fish. He was always very much a gentleman to me."

Five years later in 2019, Bubba died of pancreatic cancer. In a Facebook post, Deen wrote: "I dearly loved my brother Bubba. While I am grateful for the 65 years I had with him, it saddens me I will not see him again in this life. He was so much fun to be around and had a heart of gold and would give the shirt off his back if asked. I think I'll miss his laugh the most."

In July 2015, a photo from a 2011 Halloween episode of "Paula's Best Dishes" was posted across Paula Deen's social media accounts. In it, Deen was dressed as 1950s icon Lucille Ball, while her son Bobby was Ricky Ricardo — complete with darker face make-up. The image was quickly removed and, via a statement, Deen apologized for any offense and confirmed the social media manager would be changed.

While some people were outraged at the brownface fiasco, not everyone among Deen's fanbase was offended. It was a tiny glimmer of light amid the gloom that suggested she might make a comeback. A few months later, Deen grabbed another opportunity to reclaim the spotlight, appearing on "Dancing with the Stars." She blogged at the time: "I'm excited and nervous. There's just a whole array of emotions that could overwhelm a person. After all, I'm 68 and startin' on this physically demanding show."

Her appearance on the show was a chance to plug her book "Paula Deen Cuts the Fat," showcasing her range of healthier recipes — but it also prompted media conversations about whether she should have participated at all. In the end, Deen was eliminated in week six, and told host Tom Bergeron: (per ABC News) "I have been like a fish out of water for six weeks. It has been such a wonderful journey. It took them a long time to convince me to do this. It was wonderful. It was worth it."

If her flirtation with prime-time audiences didn't work out as expected, the TV star had already been hard at work rebuilding her reputation on her own terms. In 2014, she launched The Paula Deen Network, saying in a statement noted by The Hollywood Reporter: "We're going to have so much fun being together and cooking up some wonderful new and classic dishes. Y'all can get my recipes, tips and cooking anytime you want — this is for you. I can't wait to crank up the oven and get cooking for the people I love: my family, my friends and my fans."

The following year she clinched a deal with publisher Hachette. Todd McGarity, vice president of client distribution services, said in a statement reported by the LA Times: "We are thrilled to be working with Paula Deen, whose trademark warmth and culinary flair are as appealing as ever. Her large, dedicated fan base is eager for more from her, and we are looking forward to continuing to build on her impressive sales." 

She also teamed up with Compass Media Networks to connect directly with fans via "What's Cooking with Paula Deen," a daily radio show, as well as a half-hour weekly podcast "What's Cooking with Paula Deen." She told People: "I cannot wait to bring my vignettes and podcasts to listeners around America. I have a ton of fun tips up my sleeve to make their life a little easier."

You could be forgiven thinking Paula Deen was focusing so hard on restoring her TV reputation in 2015 that she barely thought about the restaurants that launched her on the path to stardom. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Her business empire was dealt a serious blow after Caesars Entertainment cut ties to the star, forcing the closure of four restaurants. However, back in Savannah, The Lady and Sons was still going strong and — just two years later – the first Paula Deen's Family Kitchen opened in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. By the time 2018 rolled around, Deen was starting to put clear blue water between her brand and the deposition damage, and was effectively rebuilding the personal connection with customers eating at her restaurants.

When news broke that a Paula Deen's Family Kitchen outlet would be established at Branson Landing in Missouri, the star said in a statement reported by SBJ.net: "Together with the team at Branson Landing, we will provide a truly memorable experience for folks who enjoy delicious Southern comfort food, family vacations and great entertainment."

Paula Deen's use of racial slurs put a big dent in her popularity in 2013. Even now, more than 10 years after the fact, she is still too controversial a figure for many TV broadcasters. Luckily for her, the internet has given Deen the platform to reach (and grow) an increasingly loyal audience.

Viewers can stream her short-lived 2018 vegan cookery show "Positively Paula," "Paula's Home Cooking," and "Paula's Best Dishes" via her own website, or even buy her jewelry on JTV. As well as helping to re-establish her image as a Southern matriarch, focusing her energies online has made financial sense too. Finance expert Michael Dinich, who estimated her current net worth at $14 million, told Newsweek: "What struck me about Deen's case was just how reliant her wealth had become on one revenue stream — TV and endorsements."

Chris Cline, of PR agency The Cline Group, said in the same Newsweek article: "Deen embraced other ways to stay in the spotlight like launching her own network, being on "Dancing with the Stars" and she posted cooking shows on YouTube. She never completely disappeared from the limelight and her fanbase eventually has embraced her again as a result." 

Viewers tuning into cooking shows on mainstream television channels are unlikely to see Paula Deen whipping up her audience into a butter-based frenzy, as she did at the height of her fame. However, type her name into a search engine and it's obvious that, contrary to appearances, Deen certainly hasn't vanished into oblivion.

Figures from media analytics site SocialBlade show that she has more than 560,000 YouTube subscribers alone, while her videos have racked up more than 110 million views — healthy stats for a 77-year-old business and showbiz veteran still coming back from that short, sharp fall from grace. Her dedicated army of fans is also quick to show their concern for a woman whose recipes are both comforting and nourishing.

An Instagram post for National Homemade Cookie Day sparked concern that Deen had gone on a crash diet or was ill. Among the comments, which included lots of praise for her slimmer appearance, one fan wrote: "I pray she does not have lung cancer. She's been a heavy smoker since her teens ... I don't want anything to happen to her. I sincerely love her so much."