It’s been fifteen months since television chef Paula Deen was dropped by most of her sponsors after having admitted to using a racial slur in the past. The court case surrounding the incident was later dismissed, receiving little attention — much like Deen after the fact. That is until this past week, when Deen returned to the Today show, for the first time since her recklessly emotional 2013 interview with Lauer, to apologize. She also announced the launch of her new network, the Paula Deen Network, as a public relations maneuver in that same interview last week with Matt Lauer.
In the interview, Deen claimed that she now understands the power of words and how they affect those around her. She told Lauer “My words hurt people. They disappointed people, and quite frankly I disappointed myself,” along with similar sentiments, according to Time Magazine. She seems genuine and thoughtful in the video footage, and her words seem wise, lacking their usual histrionic flair. This contradicts the Paula Deen in her tearful 2013 interview with Lauer where she claimed that she shouldn’t have been fired. It seems strange that she would do an about-face for this recent interview, with her claims of now understanding the power of words and not previously. However, it has been nearly a year and a half since the incident, so for her to change her mind about the incident isn’t entirely out of the question, though to change so drastically is questionable at best.
Deen didn’t stop with just a thoughtful apology. Later in the show, her new ventures were also discussed. The Paula Deen Network is set to launch as an online subscription-based website where viewers will be able to watch all of her old content, which was purchased by Deen from the Food Network for an undisclosed amount, and varied new content as well, according to Yahoo! News. The network sounds enticing, especially to those who already enjoy Deen’s old programming. Her motives were not just to share her recipes and her love of cooking, but rather were to greedily take advantage of her situation and angle for a self-initiated catapult back into the world of televised cooking.
Thus we reach the paradigm shift in this seemingly lovely story. While Deen’s words seem genuine and wise, the timing is also suspicious. Deen most likely meant her words when speaking with Lauer last week. The scandal was about something she had said years ago, before she knew what impact the words could have — both on the people she said them to and retroactively, herself.
However, she timed this interview as a PR stunt to boost her ratings before her network debuts. Deen lost many sponsorships after the 2013 scandal including those from QVC, Target, Walmart, J.C. Penney, Sears, Home Depot, and The Food Network, according to WREG News. Deen definitely deserved to be penalized for what she said, especially given that she is a public figure, even a celebrity. She is at fault for her poor vocabulary choice, but shouldn’t be forced out of something she loves because of one poor choice. It shouldn’t define how the world sees her indefinitely.
Deen lost a lot of respect in her field. This interview with Lauer was a move to gain a little bit of that respect back. University of Tampa junior journalism major, Kyetra Bryant, doesn’t “think it is 100 percent sincere” because Deen is “probably now trying to get those sponsorships back” via “damage control” in order to regain her image.
Despite this ploy to get her name back out there in a positive light, Deen already had a large group backing her. The supporters include many fans on a website called “WeSupportPaulaDeen.com” as well as business representation through Najafi Media. The latter funded Paula Deen Ventures with 20 million dollars for the butter-loving chef to invest in her business, as reported by WREG News. After spending some time out of the public eye to understand what she did wrong, beginning her own network is a logical move with monetary gain at hand. It was definitely a good decision on Deen’s part to begin her own network, but it would have served her better to ‘know the power of words’ long before the network announcement. Even with the ill-conceived joint discussion Deen’s image will certainly improve with her apology. With the money and fan support, public opinion was her last venture needed before re-launch and so she went on the Today show to achieve this missing puzzle-piece.
While the main goal of Paula Deen’s interview with Lauer was to better the opportunity for success of her new company, it was not the only reason. Deen did own up to her faults in the interview with the wisdom that can only come from error. She realized that she had made a mistake, but likely held off formal statement until this venture was underway. Deen is a decent human being who made a serious error which cost her status. With this interview, Deen accepted her faults and launched herself back onto the path of prosperity. Now, we just wait and hope she can hold on to it this time around.
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