From The New York Times:
Paula Deen’s culinary empire suffered a new blow on Wednesday, as Walmart announced it was ending their lucrative partnership, selling cookware, food and other products branded with the celebrity chef’s name.
The news came hours after Ms. Deen made a tearful appearance on the “Today” show, insisting that she was not and never had been a racist, as a former employee has charged in a workplace-discrimination lawsuit. Since last week, Ms. Deen has lost two other major corporate contracts, with the Food Network and Smithfield Foods, after her deposition in a workplace-discrimination lawsuit came to widespread attention. In it, she admitted to using racist language, and tolerating racist jokes in one of her restaurants.
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Walmart said, “We are ending our relationship with Paula Deen Enterprises and we will not place new orders beyond those already committed.” There are currently 215 Paula Deen-branded items on the company’s Web site, from aprons and salad dressings to reading glasses, china and a new line of "finishing butters."
http://www.nytimes.com/...
"Finishing butters" - lolz
If you missed Ms. Deen's appearance with Matt Lauer this morning, I'd say it did not go well. She replied to a question from Lauer with a non-sequitur story about her and her grandson that got her all weepy. It seemed very rehearsed and short of an adequate apology.