Anthony Bourdain Blasts Paula Deen Over Diabetes Announcement
Chef Anthony Bourdain has launched another verbal assault on Paula Deen just hours after she announced she is battling diabetes. Bourdain, known for his opinions, has previously called Deen a threat to America.
Bourdain told Eater.com, “We can look forward to People or US magazine running the cover story, ‘I’m back!’ usual rehab story. Clearly this has been coming for a while. She’s been looking for ways to position herself. Is she really going to be selling the cure now? Or will she back off for a decent interval?”
For all his tough talk, though, Bourdain also said, “I take no pleasure in it. There ain’t (sic) nothing funny about diabetes. When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you’ve been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you’ve got Type 2 Diabetes…It’s in bad taste if nothing else. How long has she known? I suspect a very long time.”
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Deen appeared on NBC’s “Today” show to confront growing speculation that she was suffering from Type 2 Diabetes, which affects over 20 million people. She told Al Roker, “I’m here today to let the world know that it is not a death sentence. I came home, I told my children, I told my husband, I said, ‘I’m gonna (sic) keep this close to my chest for the time being’ because I had to figure out things in my own head.”
Bourdain has been engaged in a war of the words with Deen since August, 2011, when he stated, “The worst, most dangerous person to America is clearly Paula Deen. I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it is OK to eat food that is killing us.” Deen responded by telling Bourdain to “get a life.”
Deen is now working with drug company Novo Nordisk and has launched the new website Diabetes in a New Light. She concluded her interview on “Today” by saying, “You know, people see me on TV two or three times a day and they see me cooking all these wonderfully Southern, fattening dishes. That’s only 30 days out of 365. Like I told Oprah…’I’m your cook, not your doctor. You are responsible for yourself.’”
