The Food Network said it is not renewing the contract of Southern chef Paula Deen, according to CBS News.
The development happened shortly after the celebrity cook posted the first of two videotaped apologies begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.
Deen also acknowledged she briefly considered hiring all Black servers for her brother’s 2007 wedding.
Deen, 66, has been embroiled in controversy since court documents revealed she told an attorney in a deposition that she has used the N-word. “Yes, of course,” Deen said, although she added, “It’s been a very long time.”
In the second apology video, she said, “”Your color of your skin, your religion, your sexual preference does not matter to me.”
Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment, which has Deen’s restaurants in some of its casinos, said that it “will continue to monitor the situation,” according to USA Today. Publisher Ballantine, which has a Deen book scheduled to roll out this fall, issued similar words.