The
Paula Deen Scandal You Haven't Read About
By FBWorld Team
The
Paula Deen Scandal in From Scratch:
Inside the Food Network
Here is a more in-depth look at some of the emotions and
facts that were seething beneath the surface. This offers
a little more insight as to why the battle got so ugly.
Here
now, an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming book From
Scratch: Inside the Food Network by Allen Salkin. Written
with "extensive inside access, documents, and interviews
with hundreds of executives, stars, and employees all
up and down the ladder," the passage below is pulled
from a chapter on the Paula Deen scandal, a last-minute
addition to the book as the story broke this Summer.
The
author Salkin has put together his concept about what
happened on June 21, 2013. That was the day Paula Deen
was supposed to go onto the Today show to discuss a leaked
deposition in which she admitted to among other things,
having used the N-word in the past.
Deen
bailed on the interview, releasing a string of bizarre
apology videos later that afternoon before being informed
that the Food Network would not be renewing her contract.
Salkin tosses in some additional gems into the chapter
as well, like the fact that the Food Network was "blindsided"
by Deen's diabetes announcement and pharma deal, or that
she had negotiated shows for her sons the last time her
contract was up.
Salkin
tells Eater that "while Deen's official spokespeople
did not return calls seeking comment at the time I reported
this chapter, the information in this excerpt was gathered
from numerous sources inside the Deen camp, Deen's business
associates, and well-placed sources inside Food Network."
So keep that in mind while reading. From Scratch: Inside
the Food Network comes out from Putnam Adult on October
1 (pre-order on Amazon).
Excerpt:
From Scratch: Inside the Food Network by Allen Salkin
The
National Enquirer ran the first story in June 2013 about
a deposition in a racial- and sexual-harassment suit against
Paula Deen and her brother: "Paula Deen's Racist
Confessions Caught on Video!" With the transcript
online, a media storm ensued. "Paula Deen On Her
Dream 'Southern Plantation Wedding" Talking Points
Memo announced. Opinion pieces attacking her followed.
There
was controlled panic among Paula's team. The timing was
particularly awful for them because Paula's contract with
Food Network was expiring that very month. The previous
time her contract had neared its end in 2010 her agents
Barry Weiner and Jonathan Russo had played hardball, putting
Paula on the open market and making Food Network bid for
her against other suitors. Part of what they won was an
agreement for the network to give her sons Jamie and Bobby
each a season of their own shows.
The
situation was different this time around, even before
the N-word revelations. She had blindsided the network
a year earlier with her announcement that she was suffering
from diabetes and had signed a multi-million dollar deal
with pharmaceutical company to endorse a treatment. Food
Network executives were so peeved that Paula's Best Dishes
was put on hiatus and no new episodes were shot for about
a year. In that time, Nielsen ratings for her shows still
being broadcast were down almost 25 percent.
Jonathan
had been negotiating with Food Network for months over
a new contract for Paula. Her team was so sure an agreement
would be reached that Follow Productions, the producer
of her shows, had already begun preparations to shoot
new episodes.
But
as with Emeril, she had become an increasingly expensive
star who was no longer pulling audiences like she used
to, and it was taking awhile to come to an agreement.
She was not alone in losing viewers. The only shows seeming
to hold their own in the network's In The Kitchen block
were Pioneer Woman and Trisha's Southern Kitchen: new
faces. And in primetime, the news was also dispiriting,
with a 15 percent decline in total households for the
2012-13 season.
Click
Here for the Rest of the Story
by Paula
Forbes
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