Over the past couple of weeks, as the Internet and press has delightfully and savagely ripped into the buttery backside of Paula Deen’s career, nearly everyone that’s been associated with Paula Deen has ended their association. She lost her cooking show, all of her sponsors, and even her publisher, which dropped Paula Deen despite the fact that her book was number one on Amazon. To turn your back on all that money in the publishing world, where a hit is harder to come by than a successful sitcom on NBC, takes a lot of guts.
However, there is one company that’s still willing to think of the money. Paula Deen’s magazine publisher Hoffman Media has no intention of discontinuing her popular magazine.
From The New York Post:
The Birmingham, Ala.-based company said it has no intention of suspending publication of Cooking With Paula Deen — the six-times-a-year, 350,000-circulation magazine it has published since 2005 — even as others abandon her for admitting she used a racial slur.
“The recent images portrayed by the media do not reflect the person we know on a personal or professional level,” said Eric Hoffman, executive vice president and chief operating officer.
“To be clear, Hoffman Media does not condone the use of offensive, discriminatory language or behavior,” Hoffman said. “With that said, we feel that Ms. Deen’s apology for past indiscretions was heartfelt and genuine.”
I think that statement basically boils down to: “Financially, we’ve been put in a very bad position. Yes, we know she’s a racist, but we really need the money. Basically, she’s the only thing we got going. What are you gonna do?”
It’s odd, too, how quickly everyone else was willing to drop Paula Deen. Almost no one came out on her defense, and it’s almost as though the people at the Food Network and all of her sponsors were just waiting for that shoe to drop. I mean, what does it say about Paula Deen that those who worked with her would not come to her defense. Maybe I missed it, but I don’t recall any of her employees or other colleagues come out to say, “Oh, no. She’s not that racist.” I mean, Mel Gibson had Jodie Foster. Michael Richards had Jerry Seinfeld, and I’m sure that Roman Polanski had at least one friend who said that that girl he blindfolded and forcibly sodomized looked over 18. But Deen? They just let that woman sink.
Now here’s the inevitable “Sh*t Paula Deen Says” video. How did it take this long for someone to do this?
(via)
