Paul Deen "Chopped" From the Food Network

Paula Deen has been "chopped."  The Food Network moved quickly to cut all ties with fatty foods maven Paula Deen after news surfaced of the lawsuit charging her with racial harassment.  Apparently, Deen and her husband were named in a lawsuit by former employees alleging Deen's creation of a hostile work environment resulting from the use of racial slurs.  The charges in the suit were bad enough before Deen opened her mouth in a deposition and made the situation far worse.  Baffling as it seems, she responded "Of course" when asked if she had used "the n-word," implying it's a natural occurrence for all people.  And, she seems not to understand that "it was a joke" is not an acceptable excuse.

Of course, many foodies out there are still wondering what Paula Deen was ever doing on the Food Network in the first place.  For a network that features culinary masters like Bobby Flay, Emeril Legasse, Tyler Florence, Ming Tsai, Geoffery Zakarian, and Masaharu Morimoto, the appearance of kitchen hacks like Paula Deen is a true step backward and an insult to viewers.  Granted, there are people who "like" Paula Deen and the gastic disasters she "whips up" in her red-neck kitchen.  But that's not what the Food Network should be about.  In fact, I've often wondered how people like Flay and Florence can even tolerate being in the same kitchen with that woman.  Is it just for show, or do they somehow find something appealing about a cook who simply slathers butter and cream on everything to make it "rich."

I've written before about my respect for Robert Irvine and his show Restaurant Impossible because his entire focus is on getting people to understand how to choose quality.  There's simply no reason to cook like Deen when you can cook like Irvine.  And the Food Network is far better off without someone whose values are as low class as her cooking.