Paula Deen is coming back.
Less than a year after her association with a racist slur led to the loss of her TV contract and many sponsors, Deen has created a new company. Paula Deen Ventures includes all the restaurants, cruises, cookbooks, cookware and other products that focus on her touting of traditional Southern cuisine.
Deen is partnering with Phoenix-based Najafi Media, which specializes in consumer distribution. Jahm Najafi, founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement Wednesday that he has "a deep respect for the hard work, unique content and quality products which Paula has built around her brand."
A spokeswoman for the company declined comment to CNNMoney when asked for details about the partnership.
Deen's sponsors dropped the food mogul like a hot potato last June after she admitted, during testimony in a racial discrimination lawsuit, that she had once used a racist slur to describe an African-American man. She later offered a tear-soaked apology via YouTube and NBC's "The Today Show."
Read - Paula Deen's coming back
Previously:
'We're sticking with Paula': Deen fans protest with butter wrappers
Paula Deen and Southern food: Critics say credit is past due
Paula Deen's upcoming cookbook canceled
Paula Deen's testimony transcript
Paula Deen issues video apology, is dropped by Food Network
Paula Deen – From the frying pan to the firestorm
Comfort food, uncomfortable topics
Absolutely cannot wait!!!
Finally this run amok PC nonsense is starting to correct itself. I hope Paula enjoys more success now than she ever would have dreamed of before this unfair debacle. Go Paula!
Who cares. Paulo Deen can hit the road.
It shouldn't have been an issue to begin with.
Woman should be in jail for saying what she did. That is called a Hate Crime...
No it isn't.
Yeah, we generally don't arrest people for talking in this country...
Forgive her for what? She did NOTHING wrong! But dont take it from me...watch her make double or triple what she made before.
what do you mean America is ready to forgive? Most Americans had nothing to forgive of Paula. She's human like anyone of us and makes mistakes, like anyone of us. She's just in the public eye. It's like none of you have never said anything derogatory. What she allegedly called that person I believe in my heart was warranted. If you're a bad person and someone calls you a derogatory name for doing something that you should've not done....oh well. If the shoe fits. There are good and bad people all over this world and if I had been in her shoes at the moment I would've called him that same and I have no problem calling it as it is. LOOK AT THE PERSON IN THE MIRROR FIRST!
I would have called him something harsh, but not something that reflects upon a whole race or ethnicity of a person. That is not insulting to the person so denigrated, but instead to the entire race/ethnicity of people being referred to.
That being said, I think the whole case was overblown for something that happened 30 years ago. I wish her well in her future ventures, even if for other reasons (my own taste in food, for instance), I'm not particularly interested in following her.
Then why are you?
I think if you read my comments here, you'd understand I'm not following her, but commenting on broader ideas. There's a difference.
Not interested. This highly unattractive (inside and out) person had her 15 minutes of fame (and infamy), her work does nothing to benefit society, only to detract with her unhealthy, fat-laden recipes and low-level intelligence. Stay hidden please...and take the Kardashians with you!
Coming back to make more money to support her butter habit. I find it hard to believe she is the only food celebrity making the news these days. C'mon CNN.
Give it a rest already...
Did someone widdle in your cereal?