Can Paula Deen butter up fans to pay $9.99 a month?
Fans of Paula Deen's Southern-fried cooking have stuck by their cooking guru through admissions of using racist epithets and a tear-filled apology. Now, they're being asked to to pony up $9.99 per month to get her side of the story.
Deen will debut her own network on Wednesday, charging fans to watch videos including a self-produced documentary about what's happened in her life during the past two years, The Wall Street Journal reports. During that time, she came under criticism for endorsing a diabetes drug while promoting heavy Southern food and for her admitted use of racial epithets.
The Paula Deen Network will charge fans $9.99 per month, or offer a one-year deal at $7.99 per month. The network has bought rights to 440 episodes of her Food Network show, as well as her unaired 13th season, the Journal notes. The Food Network had severed its relationship with Deen in 2013 after the racial controversy emerged.
While fans of Deen's cooking might be tempted to sign up, the network is facing competition from every angle, ranging from cooking shows on streaming sites such as Hulu and food bloggers that offer fresher takes on Southern dishes.
The price may be seen as steep, given that a Hulu monthly subscription will set viewers back $7.99 a month. Included in that price are food-cooking shows such as Martha Stewart's "From Martha's Kitchen" and Jamie Oliver's "The Naked Chef."
Deen told The Journal that she felt "America needs to know the true story, and everything that happened." She added, "I'm bound by the courts, so I can only say so much. But there's nothing to stop others from talking about it."
A representative for Deen's network didn't immediately return a request for comment.
The network comes after Najafi Media earlier this year invested as much as $100 million to create Paula Deen Ventures, providing the disgraced TV personality with the opportunity to reestablish her image.
While video will only be available to paying subscribers, the site is offering recipes for free. That means dishes like "BBQ Chicken in Cornbread Cups" and "Homemade Mini Corn Dogs" are available to anyone with a desire to tempt their cholesterol count.