Star Chef Paula Deen Fired by the Food Network for Using Racial Slurs

Celebrity chef Paula Deen was abruptly fired by the Food Network on June 21, 2013 for admitting at a deposition in connection with a race discrimination case brought by an employee of a restaurant Deen owns with her brother revealed that she used the "N-word" in the past. In her deposition she also said: "It's just what they are - they're jokes ... most jokes are about Jewish people, rednecks, black folks ... gays or straights, black, redneck, you know, I just don't know - I just don't know what to say," Deen reportedly said in her defense. "I can't, myself, determine what offends another person." Shortly after the revelation that Deen had used racial slurs in the past, the Food Network issued at a statement that "Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract when it expires at the end of this month." Food Network is responsible for Deen's star power which began in 2002 with "Paula's Home Cooking." Food Network's firing came a few hours after Deen posted an awkward apology on You Tube. In her video statement, Deen said: "I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong I have done. I want to learn and grow from this...Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable."