Food Network drops Deen amid scandal
The Food Network said Friday it’s dumping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted the first of two videotaped apologies online begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.
The 66-year-old Savannah, Ga., kitchen celebrity has been swamped in controversy since court documents filed this week revealed Deen told an attorney questioning her under oath last month that she has used the N-word. “Yes, of course,” Deen said, though she added, “It’s been a very long time.”
The Food Network, which made Deen a star with “Paula’s Home Cooking” in 2002 and later “Paula’s Best Dishes” in 2008, weighed in with a terse statement Friday afternoon.
“Food Network will not renew Paula Deen’s contract when it expires at the end of this month,” the statement said. A representative for Deen did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment.
Celebrity couple name baby ‘North’
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have taken a new direction in naming their baby girl. They’re calling her North – as in North West.
The Los Angeles County birth certificate says little North was born to the celebrity and her rapper boyfriend at 5:34 a.m. June 15 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The certificate doesn’t mention a middle name. It also doesn’t list her hair or eye color or weight.
The child was born several weeks early but Kardashian’s sister Khloe has said that mom and baby are healthy.
Judge finalizes Newton property deal
The bankruptcy deal is done, Wayne Newton and his family are out, and the majority owner of Newton’s former “Casa de Shenandoah” property said Friday he still wants to turn the southeast Las Vegas spread into a tourist attraction. Whether the name of the crooner dubbed “Mr. Las Vegas” will be associated with the development remained a question mark.
Newton and his lawyers were absent when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Markell signed off on a sealed agreement that leaves CSD LLC, headed by investors Lacy and Dorothy Harber, in charge of the 40-acre property several miles southeast of the Las Vegas Strip.
Newton, 71, his wife, Kathleen McCrone Newton, and their family and menagerie of exotic animals moved this month to a downsized nearby property with several homes on about 20 acres.
The birthday bunch
Actor Ralph Waite is 85. Singer-actor Kris Kristofferson is 77. Actor Michael Lerner is 72. Singer Howard “Eddie” Kaylan is 66. Singer-musician Todd Rundgren is 65. Actress Meryl Streep is 64. Actress Lindsay Wagner is 64. Actor Graham Greene is 61. Pop singer Cyndi Lauper is 60. Actor-producer-writer Bruce Campbell is 55. TV personality Carson Daly is 40. Actor Donald Faison is 39.