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Despite the N-word, Paula Deen sets sail
It’s been a couple of hard weeks for Paula Deen’s PR team, but her supporters have shown up in an unexpected location: Paula Deen Cruises.
Even as her corporate sponsors dump her for admitting to using the racially-charged N-word in her past, Celebrity Cruises has two sailings planned in its Parties at Sea with Paula Deen & Family 2014 schedule.
The Southern-style cooking queen and her boys were a fixture on TV and in cookbooks, and the face of Southern hospitality and deep frying at companies from Caesars Entertainment to Walmart to JC Penney until about two weeks ago, when a disgruntled ex-employee accused Deen of using the racial epithet.
Deen admitted she did, though many years ago, and has tearfully asked the public to forgive her. She now has hired the Rev. Jesse Jackson to help her get beyond the controversy.
Forbes magazine put Deen’s 2012 earnings at $17 million, a number that a single ill-advised word will cut by as much as $4.5 million.
A Celebrity Cruises spokesperson told TravelMole that while the Deen cruises are on Celebrity ships, "Celebrity does not have a partnership with Paula Deen." Rather, the ships were chartered by a travel agency that ran the programs.
The PaulaDeenCruise.com site says it is "Almost Ready!" to announce a second Parties at Sea with Paula Deen & Family.
The first cruise, on the Celebrity Reflection, sails roundtrip from Miami January 18-25. The second will be in Summer 2014.
"We’re finishing up the details and the site will be ready soon," the Deens say. "Hey, y’all, you’re going to love it!"
By Cheryl Rosen
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