Paula Deen has a new documentary out called Canceled: The Paula Deen Story, which just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. When it was first announced, there was a general assumption that Deen was going to use the opportunity as a chance to stage her comeback, but the self-described expert in Southern hospitality instead used her return to the spotlight to take one final swipe at the late Anthony Bourdain.
Deen’s story is one that has been revisited over and over again, but her enigmatic personality admittedly makes her a fascinating public figure even after all these years. On one hand, she had an almost overnight success story that sounds more unlikely the more you learn about it. A single mother in her mid-50s making butter-toasted meals rarely ends up being the apple of America’s obsession, even appearing on Oprah in her heyday of the 1990s. But that quick wit and Southern charm were impossible to look past.
