Paula Deen: Public critical, ‘Dancing With the Stars’ intrigued
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Paula Deen is in unfamiliar territory: The Queen of Butter is feeling the heat after she revealed this week that she kept her Type-2 diabetes secret while continuing to serve up the rich foods that some say led to the disease.
Not helping matters? She disclosed her illness while simultaneously announcing she’s repping a diabetes drug. Reaction was swift, and almost universally negative toward Deen, who’s much more accustomed to a warm reaction from the fans who swarm her wherever she goes. Here’s a sampling from Twitter:
--’the paula deen thing is horrible. she waits 3 yrs, now is a sponsor for her meds? the world needs better people to teach them how to cook’ --’After years of promoting unhealthy foods, Paula Deen has won a sweet gig as a pharmaceutical spokeswoman. Pass the butter.’
Perhaps it’s no surprise that celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain also got in a little dig. Although he denies calling Deen a ‘diabetic scam artist’ as TMZ’s headline screamed, he did offer up this tart Twitter take on Deen’s actions:
‘Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later.’
Bourdain, of course, once famously called Deen the ‘’most dangerous person to America’ for proudly serving up food that she knows is bad for viewers.
Not everyone is bashing Deen. Time magazine’s Healthland blog offers a thoughtful reality check about the multiple factors that lead to Type 2 diabetes, quoting Constance Brown-Riggs, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, as saying, ‘It’s an oversimplification to say that her cooking brought about her diabetes.’
And in this ‘knock-’em-down-so-we-can-build-’em-back-up’ media-and-entertainment world we live in, there’s this new development: HollywoodLife.com says it has exclusively confirmed that ABC producers are trying to lure Deen onto Season 14 of its hit show, ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ (Would it be snarky to suggest that ABC might also be hoping for a little Novo Nordisk ad buy? OK, forget we said anything.)
A representative for Deen said she wasn’t available for comment this week, but might be available next week.
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-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch
