More health revelations from Paula Deen?
AP photo
Paula Deen’s health is back in the news. The blogosphere, anyway.
The Daily, which seems to have a source with access to Deen’s medical records, as it was the first outlet to report Deen’s diabetic diagnosis, suggests a second health revelation is in the ether.
Deen was taping a segment with Dr. Mehmet Oz the other day when he asked, “You have another secret, don’t you? You have high blood pressure.”
This sent Team Deen into “a tizzy,” The Daily reports, with a publicist leaping in to stop the interview with the admonition: “You can’t air that.”
Actually this isn’t exactly breaking news. The Daily links to a story that our former AJC colleague Jim Auchmutey wrote in 2007, in which Deen told him she took blood pressure medication. She also shared details of a recent day’s worth of dining.
“Yesterday was so bad,” Deen said in that 2007 interview. “I started off the day with a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit from Hardee’s. For lunch, I had a fabulous chocolate-stuffed, chocolate-covered eclair that I made for the show. And for dinner, I had fried fish and fried shrimp from Captain D’s. Now is that horrible or what?”
On the other hand, she didn’t want anyone to know about her affinity for cigarettes, asking during the 2007 interview, “Y’all don’t have to tell people that I smoke, do you?”
Since Deen’s revelation that she was diagnosed three years ago with type II diabetes, she has begun working as a celebrity pitchwoman for a diabetes drug. Her web site now touts lighter versions of her high-calorie classics and her Twitter account espouses a healthier lifestyle.
“Just in time for the Super Bowl, Bobby and Jamie have some lighter meatballs to bring to the field,” she posted the other day, referring to her sons’ new cookbook which includes lighter recipes.
Deen’s chief critic, fellow on-air food personality (and fellow smoker) Anthony Bourdain, hasn’t been amused by her pivot to diabetic coach.
“Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business,” he tweeted the other day, “so I can profitably sell crutches later.”
- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com
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164 comments Add your comment
truthbtold
January 24th, 2012
5:01 pm
You could never make a living as a healthy cook. She is famous for cooking because of the way her food tastes and looks. Health Nuts don’t watch cooking shows. They want and eat the same things the animals eat for the most part (raw veggies, grains, and tofu), and they die at an earlier age than people that eat primarily home cooking (not fast food). You never see vegans that live to be super old – most of the time they are people that lived simple lives and ate normal home cooking. Why would someone eating raw veggies and salads be interested in a cook show anyway? Leave the woman alone!!!! Hell, Italian food, French food, Cajun/Creole and Greek food is just as heavy as the Southern food that she cooks. And most Chinese restaurants are frying rice, hot wings, egg rolls, shrimp and scallops which makes Chinese food more greasy than a fast food restaurant with fries!
weena
January 24th, 2012
5:02 pm
Hey Jennifer,
Do you use Paul’s Butt Rub to make your hair lay straight?
Chris
January 24th, 2012
5:05 pm
Anthony, How many times have you promoted Lipitor on your program? I’ve heard you mention your prescription to it several times on “No Reservations.” Be funny, but don’t be mean, especially when you’re the pot calling the kettle black. She’s in her 60s and you’re in your 50s and I have a feeling she’ll outlive you, Mr. Bourdain.
By the way, I do still enjoy your show! Now, leave Paula alone!
Jennifer Brett
January 24th, 2012
5:18 pm
Weena: No. Today I used Frederic Fekkai and actually had some success, unlike the unfortunate results on the day they took this picture. Fixing my hair is like hand-to-hand combat most days. Some days are better than others. It’s a character building experience.
Jennifer
Herself
January 24th, 2012
5:26 pm
People, people, people, get your own life and live her alone. She is a 64 year old woman who doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for her health conditions. Time to live your own life – Paula is living hers – leave her alone. Be your own judge & jury and worry about your own health. So over all this public ridicule of her….get a life!
Wilna
January 24th, 2012
5:38 pm
I have been cooking food cooked the way Paula has and so far I am healthy. ( 70 yrs.old). I do not know anyother way to cook. Can’t wait for your next cookbook. I will be first in line. I’m sorry to hear of your health problems. But that is your business, no one elses. They do not have to cook the way you do. You go girl. God Bless you and keep Him in mind. He will help you through this. Keep up the good work. We love you. : )
The Nerd
January 24th, 2012
5:38 pm
I like Hardee’s or Bojangles’ biscuits (sans sausage, cheese, and/or egg). And I don’t like shrimp, period.
weena
January 24th, 2012
5:51 pm
Jennifer, You are a good sport. I always enjoy picking the scabs of the social set.
Anywho, back to Paula…
Is it true that she’s a hermaphrodite?
how many Ya'lls can you use in one sentence?
January 24th, 2012
6:31 pm
JB — you write about her as if you really know her true background… Few do. She really is a made for TV character. Most of the stories I’ve heard about her poor poor life are lies. Everyone wants the true rags to riches story – this one just isn’t it. People close enough to know the real person had to sign a non disclosure. Think about it. hmmmm? CKM said it right — they are definitely not from Savannah. It is embarrassing when people associate her with Savannah and the South.
debra ruby
January 25th, 2012
5:32 am
i think paula is one of the best cooks i love here coconut cake and alot more she cooks real life food that doesnt cost a fortune to make and taste good i am sorry she has health problems and i hope god blesses her and she gets well soon but sometimes health problems are from your parents and not food no one has the right to judge her god bless you paula i hope you well
justin
January 25th, 2012
12:22 pm
The Daily, which seems to have a source with access to Deen’s medical records, as it was the first outlet to report Deen’s diabetic diagnosis, suggests a second health revelation is in the ether.
This seems very bogus. Are we supposed to believe that a newspaper actually has access to someones Medical Records? Wouldn’t this be a case of Doctor-Patient Confidentiality? This is just gossip.
Jason in Gainesville
January 25th, 2012
12:24 pm
I have no sympathy for Paula Deen, Terrell Owens or others who are dishonest, shady and profit from the demise of others. You have received what you deserve.
dtopgun
January 25th, 2012
12:26 pm
I can’t wait to go eat at Lady and Son’s this weekend!! That food is awesome I don’t care who you are, and guess what….I want to eat it!!
Chef Tyler Teransky
January 25th, 2012
12:27 pm
Paula Deen ain’t been right since she got hit in the face by a ham. Throwing hams isn’t healthy and isn’t safe. I would never prepare a thrown ham. Would you?
Jennifer
January 25th, 2012
12:29 pm
People are made paid spokespeople for one reason – someone believes that they have an inherit level of trust and influence over people. To take that trust and influence that she earned by making the food that has made her ill, and to now use it to hawk medication to treat that illness is an insult and a slap in the face to the people that supported her to begin with. If she’d come out with this story NOT in conjunction with promoting a product, the reaction would have been much different.
Vince Doodley
January 25th, 2012
12:31 pm
I am a southern boy but to listen to that womans fake southern accent is disgusting. She comes off like a fat redneck. (which maybe she is. bless her lil ole heart.)
Her recipes no doubt taste good but will kill you if you eat them regularly. This woman also smokes? My God. She may turn out to be an Alabama fan.
AJK
January 25th, 2012
12:32 pm
I find it interesting that Paula Deen’s harshest critic, Anthony Bourdain, is a spokesperson for Merc–a competing diabetes drug company. Think maybe that’s the genesis of his jeaslousy and nasty comments? He needs to discredit her, so he can be a better spokesperson? Regardless, I love to watch Paula. I don’t cook like her, and I’m well versed in her kind of cooking as I grew up with it. I don’t watch Anthony. He just doesn’t have the personality; but I wouldn’t cook like him anyway. Face it, most of us don’t cook every day like the celebrity chefs we watch. Occasionally, maybe. Occasionally never hurt anybody!
gnomeboy
January 25th, 2012
12:32 pm
who really cares.
Grandmachick
January 25th, 2012
12:32 pm
If you are so stupid to think that you have to watch Paula (that little button that says off or change channel) or that you have to eat that kind of food everyday then you get what you ask for. I love Paula’s recepies and have all of her cookbooks. They are right beside the recepies that my grandmother (who lived to be 95 and never weighed more than 110 her whole life)and my mother (who lived to be 85) passed down to me. They are just like the ones Paula uses. I just have enough sense to know how to eat and when to eat. I wish you the very best Paula and will always be a fan.
Actually
January 25th, 2012
12:33 pm
I was born and raised in Georgia and was thrilled when Paula first started her food shows. She came across as warm, geniune and seemed the Queen of comfort food. Then she became the Queen of silly and fake. Then we all reached our saturation point with her products and family. Face it, Paula just went to the (money) well one too many times and is being called out for her greed. She needs to be big enough to own it. Her own publisher (who just quit) asked her not to make this last move but she was too greedy and filled with her own over inflated ego to listen. She deserves the press she is getting.
LT
January 25th, 2012
12:33 pm
Why is her health front page news. Not once has she said that her recipes are healthy nor does she say that people have to eat them. She is human just like everyone else. She has health problems just like everyone else. So what that she has diabetes and high blood pressure. Who cares!!! Im pretty sure she knows how to take care of herself to where it doesn’t get out of control. Keep doing what you are doing Mrs. Deen! I absolutely love the recipes you have shared and enjoy your show!
Bob Barker
January 25th, 2012
12:39 pm
If I ever saw a slim, healthy chef, they wouldn’t be much of a chef now would they! Think about it…
deegee
January 25th, 2012
12:39 pm
Oh, geez. What’s the next shocker? Her knees and hips are buckling under the weight and now she needs knee surgery?
Gracie Mae
January 25th, 2012
12:39 pm
Everyone who has ever watched Paula Deen cook knows that you can’t eat her meals day in and day out without consequence. She is no different than you or me, so leave her alone. She is facing the consequences of her own personal eating habits, as we all must do. She has no obligation to be anyone’s food police. We all know better and should each take responsibility for ourselves and our own body.
Billy
January 25th, 2012
12:41 pm
I like PD and dislike her critics. As I’ve been told when I bring up the subject of ceasing the playboy mag, “if you don’t like it, don’t read it.” You hypocrites can do the same re PD’s recipes, whether they’re light or not. As for Mr. Anthony, it’s all to draw attention and publicity to himself–what a loser.
Leave PD alone and eat your celery…
atlantatoseattle2016
January 25th, 2012
12:41 pm
why in the south are so many hypocrites???they come off as sweet and nice and then bam!!!then behind your back they smear you cut you and have deep dark secrets…this woman knew for 3 years but yet she cooked that slop and called it food and sold it to the public….I NEVER WANT TO LIVE IN THE SOUTH AGAIN ONCE I GET OUT OF METRO ATLANTA ….I LOOK FORWARD TO BEAUTIFUL SEATTLE AND SOME INTELIGENCE
Avg American
January 25th, 2012
12:42 pm
She epitomizes the decline of the avg American…fat, stupid and ugly. I’m surprised this over-indulged non-exercising behemoth is still alive.
gh's daughter
January 25th, 2012
12:43 pm
I love Paula Deen, wish her all the best in the future!
Avg American
January 25th, 2012
12:45 pm
The decline of the avg American…getting dumber and uglier by the day and fatter by the hour.
baconbits
January 25th, 2012
12:46 pm
This is just such a non-story. Who cares? A gazillion people have so-called type 2 diabetes and/or HBP. She’s not being a good role model? Good grief! Get over yourselves! Also, who cares what Tony Bourdain says? He’s just an average joe making smart aleck comments. Big deal!
urban redneck
January 25th, 2012
12:46 pm
i think i will start putting heavy cream on my raisin bran in her honor. whole sticks of butter for snacks too, y’all!!
PLEASE
January 25th, 2012
12:48 pm
You folks need to get a life, cause I’m going to guess that all you folks who are beating up on Paula Deen are a complete and total picture of health….never done anything bad or wrong in your perfect lives, and have the answer to everything, just like the current president does. You people are completely full of horse squeeze. Do the world a favor…evaporate.
Bailey
January 25th, 2012
12:52 pm
I watch her show and enjoy it. However, I choose not to cook her recipes. I eat clean and exercise 6 days a week. I am not concerned that she has health issues. She is the one who should be concerned about that and not everyone else. People should mind their own business and quit judging others so easily.
what eva!
January 25th, 2012
12:54 pm
People are so judgemental! She never said her stuff was healthy-never! I have never followed her recipes because of a personal choice, but some people do. If you don’t like it, don’t follow her.
Martha
January 25th, 2012
12:55 pm
Enter your comments here
rATL
January 25th, 2012
12:57 pm
I have no idea why people are acting so surprised and offended. If you don’t have the good sense to know that any recipe that starts with a stick of butter is bad for you then you get what you deserve. People need to start taking control and responsibility for their own lives and actions. Its not Paula Deen’s fault you are fat and unhealthy and she has absolutely no responsibility to you to keep you from getting that way. Common sense is a thing lost to most people these days it seems.
Martha
January 25th, 2012
12:58 pm
The comments on Paula Deen have gotten completely out of hand. She is a very nice lady. The fact she has come forward with her diagnosis of being a diabetic should not have anything to do with what you eat. I heard her say one time “I’m your cook…not your doctor”. That probably says it best. Unless she was in your home, she did not force feed you. She has achieved success, and I detect quite a bit of jealousy out in the “food world”.
Joe Mama
January 25th, 2012
12:58 pm
If Paula Deen included Highly Enriched Uranium in her biscuit recipes and was then diagnosed with cancer of the everything, I think there are some posters on here who would still defend her cooking, her food and her lifestyle.
I can’t stand Paula Deen, and while I support everyone’s right to cook and eat however the heck they want to, Deen is, IMO, pushing unhealthy foods and eating habits with her endorsements and marketing. It’d be different if she were just some nice older lady with a once-a-week cooking show, but lately it seems you can’t get away from her cornpone self. She’s become a force in marketing/media, and she needs to take her lumps now.
Henry
January 25th, 2012
1:00 pm
Paula Deens health doesnt make a difference in this! We all knew that she was cooking southern food. And most of us with half a brain knew that you couldnt eat that stuff everyday and in large portions and maintain your health. It was southern comfort food. Paula is not a Doctor and people have to take ownership of what they put in their own diets. Backlash against her makes no sense!
rATL
January 25th, 2012
1:02 pm
Joe Mama….so your saying people have no choice but to eat what Paula Deen tells them? Its called self control.
Lefty
January 25th, 2012
1:03 pm
Who is Anthony Bourdain? Never heard of him.
Listen
January 25th, 2012
1:03 pm
NOBODY CARES IF YOU ARE SOUTHERN OR WHATEVER. THIS WOMAN IS OBVIOUSLY ONLY INTERESTED IN MONEY, NOT MAKING GOOD FOOD OR SETTING THINGS STRAIGHT. SHE IS A PHONY LIKE SO MANY OF YOU PEOPLE SO PROUD OF BEING SOUTHERN (NOBODY CARES; BEING SOUTHERN DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING EXCEPT YOU ARE SLOW AND HAVE TERRIBLE TASTE).
vesaversa
January 25th, 2012
1:03 pm
I really don’t get the outrage and all the hoopla over Mrs Paula health . It seam to me someone is trying to destroy this very nice lady character .Southern cooking is a culture not a disease.
aon
January 25th, 2012
1:03 pm
This isn’t about being a good or bad person. It is about a high profile celebrity who was been fraudulent and disingenuous in her branding in order to profit from it. I think Paula Deen is probably a very likeable person as she comes across as super friendly. However, you cannot deny the fact that she has been dishonest with her fans and conveniently decided to expose her health issues only after her deal with the drug company was signed, sealed and delivered, and after she negotiated with The Food Network a healthier “rebranding” of her show (this woman has a recipe for fried butter balls). You can cut it any way you like but at the end of the day it is all about the Deen empire and how to minimize the damage this “revelation” will create. Besides, people are forgetful and forgiving and once the storm passes she will carry on so those of you on your soapbox – calm down!
Lefty
January 25th, 2012
1:04 pm
I’ve honestly never heard of Anthony Bourdain.
rATL
January 25th, 2012
1:07 pm
aon…I dont believe Paula has ever said that her cooking is healthy. Anyone with a brain knows that it is not. She is allowed to sell, promote and pander any type of food she wants. It is up to the individual to choose to make and eat the food or not.
deegee
January 25th, 2012
1:08 pm
What ever happened to her husband? The two of them looked like Mr. and Mrs. FatAzz America while they were scarfing down fried fish and cream puffs.
Beauregard
January 25th, 2012
1:13 pm
Well said Josette…a true southern lady. Bourdain is just a sour, snarky Yankee with fried chicken envy…..
Some of the “food” he eats on his show would surely send most normal people into cardiac arrest. Thank goodness we Southerners have developed food tolerance that us to survive the coming apocolyps. If Iran drops a bomb on us, grab the nearest bag of pork rinds and we the South shall rise again!
Joe Mama
January 25th, 2012
1:15 pm
rATL — “Joe Mama….so your saying people have no choice but to eat what Paula Deen tells them?”
You pretty clearly didn’t read where I said “I support everyone’s right to cook and eat however the heck they want to.”
“Its called self control.”
And marketing deliberately *seeks* to influence customer choices and behavior. The marketing of Paula Deen therefore, deliberately seeks to influence customers to buy and consume her food, and to prepare and eat the things she makes on her show.
If marketing didn’t work, companies wouldn’t engage in it. Therefore, the marketing of Paula Deen is working.
Barbara Dooley
January 25th, 2012
1:19 pm
Vince! Get off of this blog and git in here an rub my feet!