Wal-Mart latest to drop Paula Deen
Paula Deen lost another chunk of her empire on Wednesday.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced that it has ended its relationship with the Southern celebrity chef, part of the continuing fallout in the wake of revelations that she used racial slurs in the past. The world’s largest retailer carries a variety of products under her moniker, including food items, cookware and health and wellness products, at all of its 4,000 U.S. namesake stores.
“We will not place new orders beyond those already committed,” said Dave Tovar, a Wal-Mart spokesman.
Last week, the Food Network said that it would not renew the celebrity cook’s contract. And on Monday, Smithfield Foods said it was dropping her as a spokeswoman.
Film duo’s hero genes run deep
Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer fight for justice in their upcoming film, “The Lone Ranger,” but their ancestors did it for real.
Genealogy research website Ancestry.com revealed Wednesday the two actors descend from historic American freedom fighters.
Hammer plays the Lone Ranger and Depp portrays his Native American sidekick, Tonto. Yet the site’s historians discovered that it’s Hammer with the native roots. The 26-year-old actor is a descendent of Cherokee leader and peace advocate Chief Kanagatucko, who was known as “Old Hop” or “Stalking Turkey” because of his age and gait.
Researchers said Depp’s eighth great-grandmother was Elizabeth Key, the first slave in the American colonies to sue for her freedom and win. It happened in 1656 in Virginia, where some of Depp’s ancestors have lived since the early 1600s.
Bank wants cash for Liberace mansion
A Las Vegas mansion that once belonged to Liberace and ultimately landed in the hands of a bank is now listed for half a million dollars, cash-only.
The nearly 14,939-square-foot mansion, built in 1962 and set on a half-acre lot near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has two bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and several large areas for entertaining.
It also features touches reminiscent of the flamboyant pianist that once lived there.
Liberace bought the home in 1974, according to Clark County property records pulled by the Las Vegas Sun. His foundation sold the house in 1989, two years after the performer died of an AIDS-related illness. In 2006 the home sold for $3.7 million. JPMorgan Chase seized the property through foreclosure in February 2010.
The birthday bunch
Business executive Ross Perot is 83. Singer-musician Bruce Johnston (The Beach Boys) is 71. Fashion designer Vera Wang is 64. Country singer Lorrie Morgan is 54. Actor Tobey Maguire is 38. Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian is 29.