13 Years Ago Food Network Dropped Paula Deen: Here's What She's Been Doing Quietly Since

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Paula Deen's tryst with fame has been quite the rollercoaster ride. The former Food Network fixture catapulted into public view after her Southern-style restaurant started garnering attention. Cookbooks, television appearances, and her own cooking shows followed. Then, in 2013, just over 10 years after the debut of her Daytime Emmy-winning "Paula's Home Cooking," it all came crashing down. A former employee sued Deen for discrimination and racism, and the Food Network host subsequently admitted, in a related deposition, to using a racial slur. Food Network refused to renew her contract, and what followed was essentially a purging of Deen from the limelight. She has since quietly grown her culinary empire: opening new restaurants, launching cookbooks, branching out into new food-related businesses, and more. Her own digital network was born, as well as product lines ranging from jewelry to dog food that bear her name.

Per some estimates, Deen lost about $12 million worth of annual revenue when news of her use of a racist slur became public knowledge. At the time of Food Network severing ties with her, the chef and television personality had three shows. Deen's subsequent departure from the public eye, marked by her posting video apologies to her friends, family, and viewers, was short-lived. It soon became clear that she still had a dedicated following as support for her continued to pour in from loyal fans. In the 13 years since her public downfall, Deen, who turned 79 in January 2026, continues to command a significant viewership for her signature Southern cooking and behind-the-scenes excerpts from her life.

For Paula Deen, the doorway to fame (and ultimately fortune) was her restaurants, most notably The Lady & Sons. The Savannah, Georgia, eatery led to Deen's first cookbook, "The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook," in 1998, and got her noticed by Food Network. Despite its popularity, in 2025, Deen announced that July 31 would be the last day of service at The Lady & Sons. An August 1 post on the restaurant's Instagram depicts the shuttered property with the words "Blessed to Serve" along with an obit-esque "1989 – 2025." The post also conveyed the closure of the nearby quick-serve Southern-style chicken takeout joint, The Chicken Box, which Deen opened in 2023.

Abrupt closures are a trend of sorts for Deen's restaurants, and often with little or no notice to employees. In 2014, Uncle Bubba's Seafood & Oyster House, owned by Deen and her brother, Earl W. Hiers Jr., announced it was closed through a Facebook post — which was how employees learned of the news. 

The following year, Paula Deen Family Kitchen (PDFK) opened its first branch in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The chain grew swiftly, but 2019 saw a slew of closures. The PDFK in San Antonio, Texas, shut down after just over a year, and outlets in Destin and Panama City, Florida, also shuttered. The latter reopened two years later, only to shut down again in 2023. While some closures were attributed to troubles with licensing partners, specifics are scant. The 2025 announcement regarding The Lady & Sons' closing, once again, came suddenly. At the time of writing, PDFK has four locations, but none of them are in Savannah.

Paula Deen didn't remain out of the spotlight for long. In June 2014, she embarked on a national tour, "Paula Deen Live!" The string of 20 live shows kicked off almost exactly a year after Deen got the axe from Food Network, and saw the celebrity chef doing cooking demonstrations and interacting with fans across the country. 

Deen's comeback seems marked by taking control of how fans access her shows. She faced subsequent losses after being dropped by Food Network, but ended up buying the rights to much of her Food Network content and launching the Paula Deen Network in 2014. The purchased library comprised over 400 episodes, including unaired segments. Since then, much of the back catalogue of "Paula's Home Cooking" and "Paula's Best Dishes" has been moved to her website. Her post-Food Network shows include the nationally syndicated "Positively Paula," which ran for two seasons until 2017, and the seemingly short-lived on-location live show, "Sweet Home Savannah." 

The celebrity chef also found time to jive through half a season of "Dancing with the Stars" in 2015. She also appeared twice on "MasterChef," once in a 2013 episode that was filmed before her public scandal but aired after, and again in 2021 (Mashed discussed the latter episode in an exclusive interview with Deen). Her long-running podcast, "What's Cooking with Paula," aired over 200 episodes between 2015 and 2020. Now, Deen frequently shares cooking videos on her YouTube channel, which is over half a million subscribers strong.

While there are some Paula Deen recipes you should think twice before making (we see you, deep-fried cheesecake), the Southern food icon has consistently put out cookbooks on both sides of her ousting from Food Network. She also sprinkled in a few memoirs along the way, like 2007's "Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'." Her most recent, "Love & Best Dishes," was released in 2023 and is slated to be Deen's final cookbook. It also doubles as her memoir, delving into old family recipes and anecdotes from Deen's childhood. An updated reissue of her first publication, "The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook," was released in 2015, as was a 20th anniversary reissue of "Favorite Recipes for the Lady & Her Friends" in 2017. 

As part of the exodus of partnerships she faced in 2013, Deen also lost a multibook deal with Ballantine Books (per Today). Her low-fat cookbook, "Paula Deen's New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up," was one of the titles that was halted. However, about 200 lighter versions of her classic recipes were published in the 2015 cookbook "Paula Deen Cuts the Fat." Ironically, news of Deen's racial slur scandal actually shot up demand for her cookbooks, partly because of supporters who thought that she was being unfairly treated by corporations that were dropping her. Cookbooks Deen has released in the last 10 years have also included those focused on baking and air-frying.

After Martha Stewart's 2024 Netflix tell-all, Paula Deen's couldn't be far behind. "Canceled: The Paula Deen Story" doesn't so much go into Deen's tragic past, and instead focuses on the scandal, peeling back the layers of how it affected "the lady and her sons." Billy Corben, the film's director, initially became interested in the project after he spent time with Deen and her sons, Bobby and Jamie, in Savannah, Georgia. Together, they toured the family's most iconic landmarks, including the house where their first catering business was started. 

For the film's subject, it was a chance to allow the entire story to come out in the open so that viewers could make up their own minds. In a Deadline Hollywood interview, Deen said, "The whole truth was very, very important for somebody to be willing to dig and investigate. And Billy was willing to do that." Corben, who usually tackles grittier subjects, is known for documentaries like "Screwball" and "Cocaine Cowboys."

Most notably, what drives Deen's documentary is how much her sons are also a part of what happened. Mother and sons spent a considerable amount of time being interviewed for the film, which had its global premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2025.

Paula Deen isn't new to introducing product lines under her very marketable name, and has quietly lent it to a variety of retail items over the years. During her time with Food Network, you could find Deen's image on everything from furniture to butter, as well as the usual plethora of kitchen tools, utensils, and seasonings one would expect. Once news of her racist comments spread, it wasn't just Food Network that dropped her; chains like Walmart and Target severed ties and stopped selling products sold under Deen's brand.

Retail giants still don't appear to be stocking her products. However, following the scandal, Deen continued to branch out into retail, starting with premium pet food. In 2015, she partnered with Hugs Pet Products. Additionally, Paula Deen Home Cookin' dog food was promoted by Sunshine Mills, Inc. 

Deen's line of jewelry was introduced in 2019. Inspired by her style, the collection was featured on the Jewelry Television Channel and is still exclusively sold through JTV. The trend of controlling access to her shows and products instead of relying on networks and retailers is visible here as well. The embattled celebrity chef continues to sell home and lifestyle products, including linens, kitchenware, and more, through her website.