Paula Deen appeared on "The Today Show" Friday morning poolside in Miami while attending the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Deen and her son Bobby were demonstrating how to cook a frittata but Al Roker wasted no time in asking the questions everyone wanted to hear. He opened by asking Paula about the backlash to her diabetes announcement and she responded:
“I think it was from a few people that were kinda mean about it and hold it against me. But the people that care for me, Al, they came out like you wouldn’t believe, and they were the people that I care about.”
Bobby also had some words for their critics. "When someone comes out and says they have an illness and people pile on it, it really says something about maybe who's doing the talking."
While the two mentioned that they are developing diabetes-friendly recipes (with the help of Novo Nordisk) to assist a lot of people with diabetes, they did not discuss the monetary aspects of her pharma deal. That deal, in conjunction with knowledge that Deen hid her diagnosis for three years, prompted the backlash in the first place.
Paula admitted that she has "broad shoulders" when it comes to the naysayers. She also said that she is exercising.
UPDATE: In response to Deen's comments, Anthony Bourdain tweeted:
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