Paula Deen announced Thursday that she has severed business relations with the agent who helped make her a Food Network star and launched her to celebrity chef stardom.
Deen had worked with New York agent Barry Weiner for more than a decade. She has said he was instrumental in getting her show "Paula's Home Cooking" on the Food Network in 2002. She gave no reason for her parting with Weiner in a prepared statement.
"Paula Deen has separated from her agent," Deen's spokeswoman, Elana Weiss, said in an email Thursday. "She and her family thank him for the tireless effort and dedication over the many years."
"Paula Deen has separated from her agent," according to a statement Thursday from spokeswoman Elana Weiss. "She and her family thank him for the tireless effort and dedication over the many years."
"The departure of Mr. Weiner, who set the strategic agenda and played a major role in day-to-day operations for Ms. Deen and her company, Paula Deen Enterprises, leaves questions as to what direction and structure her business will assume as she tries to rebuild her image and regain a television presence and several relationships she lost amid the controversy."
The Food Network decided not to renew Paula Deen's contract and has pulled her show from the air. Smithfield Foods, the pork producer that paid Deen as a celebrity endorser, dropped her soon after. Retailers including Wal-Mart and Target said they'll no longer sell Deen's products and publisher Ballantine scuttled plans for her upcoming cookbook even though it was the No. 1 seller on Amazon.
The diabetes drug that she endorsed has also pulled her off as their spokesperson. Novo Nordisk said recently that the company and Ms. Deen have "mutually agreed to suspend our patient education activities for now," adding that the break would give her time to "focus her attention where it is needed."
