Official: Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract - CNN

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  • NEW: Paula Deen's contract on The Food Network expires at the end of the month
  • The Food Network says it will not renew Deen's contract
  • Deen apologized in a video statement posted to YouTube
  • In a lawsuit deposition, Deen admitted to using the "N word"


(CNN) -- Celebrity chef Paula Deen's contract with The Food Network will not be renewed, the network said Friday, the latest fallout over revelations this week that she admitted to using a racial epithet in the past.
Deen's contract with The Food Network, which airs three shows featuring the chef, expires at the end of the month, the network said.
The Food Network's announcement followed reports earlier this week that Deen acknowledged in a lawsuit deposition to using the "N word," but denied telling racial jokes.
It also came the same day that Deen apologized in video statements posted online for "the wrong that I've done."
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Southern TV personality and chef Paula Deen is the author of 14 cookbooks, runs a bi-monthly magazine and is the owner of Savannah restaurant The Lady and Sons. Here she attends the 2010 CMT Music Awards at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

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Dean and son Bobby host Moet Hennessy's The Q at Delano in Miami Beach on February 21.

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Deen and Steve Doocy host the "Fox & Friends Christmas Special" in 2012 in New York.

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Deen on stage with a costumed Kevin Bacon at Comedy Central's "Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together for Autism Programs" in 2012 in New York.

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Deen leads the 122nd Annual Tournament of Roses Parade as grand marshal with her husband, Michael Groover, in Pasadena, California, in 2011.

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Deen promotes her new design book "Paula Deen's Savannah Style" at Barnes & Noble Union Square in 2010 in New York.

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Deen presents during the 34th Annual Daytime Creative Arts & Entertainment Emmy Awards held in Hollywood, California, in 2007.


Southern TV chef Paula Deen
Southern TV chef Paula Deen
Southern TV chef Paula Deen
Southern TV chef Paula Deen
Southern TV chef Paula Deen
Southern TV chef Paula Deen
Southern TV chef Paula Deen


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Photos: Southern TV chef Paula Deen


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Paula Deen admits to using racial slur
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2012: Deen profanity-laden blooper reel
"I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done," Deen said in the video statement. "I want to learn and grow from this. Inappropriate and hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way but I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners, I beg for your forgiveness."
Deen said earlier in the day she would release a video. Her office would not officially confirm the first video and it has since been removed from YouTube. It was replaced a short time later with a second video statement, where she again apologized and asked for forgiveness.
"My family and I are not the kind of people the press are wanting to say we are," she said. "...Your color, your religion, your sexual preference does not matter to me. But it's what's in the heart, and my family and I try to live by that."
A former manager at Deen's restaurants in Savannah, Georgia, is suing her and her brother for alleged sexual and racial harassment.
Lisa T. Jackson's lawsuit alleges that Deen and Bubba Hier committed numerous acts of violence, discrimination and racism that resulted in the end of her five-year employment at Deen's Lady & Sons and Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House eateries in Savannah.
Deen: From the frying pan to the firestorm
Deen's lawyer has called the allegations false.
"Contrary to media reports, Ms. Deen does not condone or find the use of racial epithets acceptable," her lawyer, Bill Franklin said. "She is looking forward to her day in court."
Her company issued a statement Thursday saying Deen used the epithet, but in a "quite different time" in American history.
"She was born 60 years ago when America's South had schools that were segregated, different bathrooms, different restaurants and Americans rode in different parts of the bus. This is not today."
The Food Network, which airs three shows featuring Deen, issued a statement saying that it would "continue to monitor the situation."
"Food Network does not tolerate any form of discrimination and is a strong proponent of diversity and inclusion," the network said.
The language in question was revealed recently as part of a deposition of Deen by Jackson's lawyers in May.
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Carolyn Sung reported from New York; Chelsea J. Carter reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Devon Sayers and Alan Duke contributed to this report.

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