Here's Why The Food Network Canceled Paula's Party

While many know about "Paula's Home Cooking" — the Food Network series that shot Paula Deen to fame — not many associate the celebrity chef with her less popular but equally riveting show from the late 2000s, "Paula's Party." Unlike the former, which shows Deen whipping up delicious grease-laden food in a kitchen all by herself, the latter has her unleashing jokes, hugs, and animated gestures before a packed audience. Deen's double entendres, her trademark "hey, y'all," and words laced with a classic Georgian drawl compete with the recipes that she creates on the show. In "Paula's Party," the audience inevitably gets the limelight — Deen often picks people at random to help her stir and fry or join in the fun of licking a chocolate fountain. The show has humorous, camp vibes, with Deen showing no hesitation whatsoever in sitting on the audience's laps, or feeding them in a coquettish way. 

Shot between 2006 and 2008, the series had a sprinkling of celebrities who showed up to cook with Deen. It ran on Food Network until 2013, when the Network decided to abruptly cull it. Of course, fans were disappointed and showed it by sending butter wrappers to the Network office in support of the butter queen. But no amount of empty butter wrappers changed the Network's mind, and here's why.

How does Paula Deen teach cooking in real life? Do her students laugh as much as the audience does in "Paula's Party"? As it turns out, yes. According to WTOC, the idea for "Paula's Party" was born when a TV crew happened to tape Deen teaching a cooking class at her restaurant, The Lady and Sons, in Savannah, Georgia. "They saw this [the cooking class] and said, 'My gosh, Paula! This is a show!'" said Deen. According to the report, they liked how much fun the students were having in learning from Deen. Although, Deen does warn that she can make some students uncomfortable — "I tell people who come to my cooking class that sometimes I can be a little bawdy and I sure hope that don't upset them," she writes in her 2006 memoir, "Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'."

It seems like her cooking classes were quite sought after back in the day. A Tripadvisor thread from 2008 has a series of comments, with people enquiring about her classes. "Just HOW does one go about getting into one of Paula's Cooking Classes in Savannah?" asks one user. The replies suggest that the classes fill months in advance, with one user writing that the classes are a thing of the past.

However, in 2013, Deen did organize a one-day cooking class at her home studio for 60 odd students. And, three years later, she offered online cooking classes to members of Paula Deen Club — an online club that gives its members exclusive deals for Deen's products/books (via Facebook).

"Paula's Party" was filmed at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House (via WTOC), the restaurant owned and operated by Deen's late brother Earl "Bubba" Hiers. The restaurant, as mentioned in Deen's memoir, is set in a scenic location in Whitemarsh Island on Turners Creek, Savannah, Georgia, "[...] with a creek running out back, koi fish swimming by the pond in the front door [...]." If you watch the show keenly, and look beyond Paula and her pans, you can spot the still and serene creek outside the window. Deen's home, as she points out to chef Guy Fieri in one of the episodes, is right down by the creek.

The show was shot in the restaurant between 2006 and 2007, before shifting to the Food Network studios in New York City in 2008 (via IMDb). Uncle Bubba's Oyster House was permanently shut down in 2014, after it was mired in a scandal the year before. Three years later, Deen opened a new restaurant, Paula Deen's Creek House, in the same spot, serving similar cuisine (via The Atlanta Journal Constitution).

From running a small catering business out of her home kitchen in the late '80s to becoming a media maven two decades later, Paula Deen has a classic rags to riches story. In 2011, she was the fourth highest-earning chef per Forbes, which estimated her earnings being around $17 million. But all of that came crashing down when she and her brother Earl 'Bubba' Hiers were slapped with a lawsuit in 2013. Lisa Jackson, an ex-employee at Heirs' restaurant Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, accused the brother-sister duo of racial and sexual discrimination, filing a $1.2 million lawsuit to the effect (via CNN).

The lawsuit mired Paula Deen's brand, but her deposition was the final nail in the coffin. Deen said that she had used "the N-word" while describing to her husband a horrific incident from the past when she was held at gunpoint by a robber, who was a Black man (via CNN). Though the incident was several years ago, it was enough for Food Network to flash a red signal at all things Paula Deen.

Cementing its stand against discrimination, the Network stopped airing all three of her shows, "Paula's Home Cooking," "Paula's Party," and "Paula's Best Dishes," in 2013 (via IMDb). 

Besides threatening her career, the lawsuit also made it obvious to Paula Deen that she had hurt a lot of people. She tried to make up for it through three apology videos that she posted on YouTube. "I've made mistakes, but that is no excuse. Your color of your skin, your religion, your sexual preference does not matter to me. But it's what's in the heart," she said, in one of the videos (via Today).

What happened to the lawsuit, though? The three-month-long legal battle came to an end when a Georgia judge dropped the racial discrimination charges against Deen, saying the charges were filed by a white woman who couldn't have been directly racially discriminated against (via New York Times). The sexual harassment charges were dismissed too. A settlement was reached between Deen and Lisa Jackson.

Sure, Deen got a clean pass, but her multi-million dollar empire had melted like a softy in the sun.

While the scandal slimmed down Paula Deen's wallet, it left her popularity unaffected in some circles. After sitting lame duck for a few months, Deen decided to launch a new company called Paula Deen Ventures in late 2014. If winning her empire back was a resolution that Deen had taken for that year, it was working. Her company got a whopping $75 to $100 million from the private investment firm Najafi Companies, which believed that the Paula Deen brand was "alive and well," per Wall Street Journal. 

With that money in her kitty, Deen set off on a nationwide live tour "Paula Deen Live!" (via The Shelby Report), doing what she did best: demonstrating how to cook her favorite dishes. Deen was probably convinced that she had her fan base intact; a few months later, she got in touch with Food Network, and purchased all 440 of her episodes, which included those from "Paula's Party," "Paula's Home Cooking," "Paula's Best Dishes," and specials such as "Paula's Southern Thanksgiving" and "Paula's European Vacations" (via CNN Business).

Without divulging the financial details, Food Network spokesperson Irika Slavin, said "[...] Paula asked if we'd be willing to sell the library. We reached an agreement, and everyone here wishes her the best as she embarks on her new venture" (via The Hollywood Reporter).

"Positively Paula" was the series with which Deen made a comeback into television, five years after Food Network bid adieu to her and her shows. To recap, Deen lost a ton of money, contracts, and television slots since 2013. Ever since, she has been trying to rise from the ashes. This pursuit led her to start her own company and her own network, as well as an appearance on "Dancing With the Stars" (via Eater). She launched podcasts, and juiced up her brand name with a show called "Sweet Home Savannah" that allowed viewers to buy the cookware, clothing, home appliances that she used (and advertised).

"Positively Paula" was a milestone for Deen in her pursuit of reclaiming the lost fame and television time. The show was filmed in her home in Savannah, Georgia, and featured a host of celebrities like the directors Russo brothers and actor Tom Berenger, besides Deen's family members (via Positively Paula). Sure, the series had some similarities with "Paula's Party," given it featured celebrities and family. But it lacked an audience and the over-the-top dishes that Paula's Party was known for.