Paula Deen

Paula Ann Hiers was born on January 19, 1947, in Albany, Georgia. She went to Albany High School and married her first husband after graduating in 1965. Her parents both died by the time she was 23, a loss that led Deen says gave her panic attacks and chronic agoraphobia. She used her cooking skills to come out of that and eventually starting a home-based catering business, The Bag Lady, with her two sons serving as deliverymen.

In January 1996, Deen opened her own restaurant, The Lady and Sons, in downtown Savannah. By 1999, USA Today had awarded The Lady and Sons its "International Meal of the Year" title. The restaurant was wildly popular, and her first cookbook, "The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook" soon followed. After a few guest appearances on Food Network shows, Paula Deen shot a pilot in early 2001 for the network, called "Afternoon Tea." The network gave the show a thumbs-up, and Deen landed her own show in 2002, "Paula's Home Cooking". With the success of that series, the Food Network debuted "Paula's Party" in 2006.

In June 2013, Deen had admitted to using the N-word during a legal deposition taken in May. Deen and her brother were being sued by a former employee for racial and sexual harassment. She also stated that it had been long time since she had used the offensive term in her testimony. Regardless, after the admission, the Food Network decided not to renew Deen's contract to produce more shows, and several companies announced they were severing all business ties with the Paula Deen brand.