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Tag: deen

  • Tom Hanks “Graduates” to Type 2 Diabetes

    During his Monday night guest spot on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” actor Tom Hanks revealed that he’s been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes – and that weight fluctuations for on-screen roles may have been a contributing factor.

    Hanks once put on 30 pounds for his role in “A League of Their Own,” and lost 55 while playing character Chuck Nolan in “Cast Away.” Hanks explained to Letterman, “I went to the doctor and he said, ‘You know those high-blood-sugar numbers you’ve been dealing with since you were 36? Well, you’ve graduated. You’ve got Type 2 diabetes, young man.’”

    Adult-onset diabetes is a metabolic disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. It can initially be managed by altering diet and exercising, though some patients require insulin regardless of lifestyle changes. It’s a disease most commonly associated with obesity; In 1985, 30 million people had the disease. Now roughly 285 million suffer from it. Long-term complications from high blood sugar can include heart disease, strokes, diabetic retinopathy, kidney failure and poor circulation in the limbs, leading to amputations.

    Hanks added, “My doctor said, ‘Look, if you can weigh as much as you weighed in high school, you will essentially be totally healthy – will not have Type 2 diabetes.’ Then I said to her, ‘Well, I’m going to have Type 2 diabetes because there is no way I can weigh as much as I did in high school.’” Hanks told Letterman he’d weighed 98 pounds during his high school days.

    Hanks stars in the film “Captain Phillips,” which opens Friday. Here’s the trailer:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA6ri9Ip-Ws

    In related news, celebrity chef Paula Deen has also been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and drug maker Nova Nordisk had “suspended” their activities with her, after the infamous racial epithet scandal.

    Image via YouTube.

  • “Black People for Paula” Group Plans Times Square Rally

    A Paula Deen fan club called “Black People for Paula” is planning a rally in Times Square.

    According to the group’s website, the (as yet unnamed) founder of Black People for Paula and “over 100 of [his or her] friends” will gather outside the windows of the Good Morning America set during the show’s filming on August 16. They plan to wear pink t-shirts that feature the BPP logo and carry a large banner that says “We Forgive You Paula.”

    According to the group’s founder, “The word Paula used was horrible. She has admitted that what she said was wrong and hurtful. She gave an extremely heartfelt apology and I forgive her, my family forgives her and the African American community forgives her.” The group cites Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson as prominent African American leaders who have voiced some measure of forgiveness for Deen’s past use of the “N” word.

    However, NewsOne, a news source that focuses on African American issues, isn’t sold on the group. Contributing Editor Kirsten West Savali says that the rally is a plot “twist straight from the Plantation Chronicles” and that the group is motivated by a need for some black Americans to “be perceived as non-threatening and friendly to White people.” Savali especially takes issue with BPP’s statement that the “African American community forgives” Deen. “Clearly,” she writes, “those sweet potatoes and fried chicken drive people insane, because the entirety of the Black community most certainly does not forgive Paula Deen.”

    In addition to the hostile work environment central to Deen’s current legal imbroglio, Savali notes that Deen cracked a racially-tinged joke about President Obama in the wake of the BP oil spill (she apparently said that he ought to be able to fix the situation by “n&%@#*-rigging” it) and that she once “dreamt of having Black men in shorts and bow ties playing step’n fetchit at an Antebellum style wedding reception.”

    For anyone who agrees with the group, t-shirts are for sale on its website.

  • Paula Deen Comic to be Released in October

    Paula Deen is soon to be the star of her own comic book.

    Yeah, she’s a super-hero now.

    Though she was dropped faster than a speeding bullet by many of her sponsors after she admitted to using the “N word” in the past, Bluewater Productions, which had been planning to release a biographical comic book based on Deen’s life, has decided to move forward.

    The book is to be a part of a “Female Force” series that showcases the accomplishments of notable women. Previous subjects of the series have included Angelina Jolie, Hilary Clinton, Cher, and Gabrielle Giffords.

    Bluewater president Darren G. Davis has said that the company does “not condone her use of racial insensitivities, and think that intolerance has no place in a just society. But despite her recent failings, we also strongly believe she still has a powerful story to tell; one that fits the female empowerment model of our books.”

    While Paula’s recent troubles will be part of the comic narrative, the book will largely focus on her successes.

    The writer of “Female Force: Paula Deen,” Michael Troy, says that it will be about a strong, hard-working female: “Paula Deen is still an inspirational woman who has suffered much adversity in her life and overcome many obstacles. Her story is fascinating and it’s easy to see why Bluewater would consider her for their Female Force line of biography comic books that [focus] on powerful women.”

    Deen’s problems started when she was named a defendant in a lawsuit brought by Lisa Jackson, a former employee who alleged that employment at Deen’s restaurant was tainted by both sexual and racial improprieties. In a deposition in that matter, Deen admitted using the “N word” in the past, specifically in reference to a burglar she’ d encountered in 1986. Jackson claims that Deen and her brother Bubba had both used the term in her presence.

    The “Female Force” comic is set to be released in October 2013.

  • Carter Pardons Deen, Claims Celebri-Chef Was Just “Honest”

    Hit the brakes, America. Paula Deen has been pardoned by Jimmy Carter.

    Deen has been put through the wringer since admitting to having used racial slurs in the past. But Carter, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and former president, said in a CNN interview that the disgraced Food Network icon had been perhaps “excessively honest in saying that she had in the past, 30 years ago, used this terrible word.”

    Deen’s career has been in shambles the past two weeks after admitting in a legal deposition that she had used the “N” word in the past. Since that time, she’s been dropped by the Food Network, on which she had appeared since 2002. Other sponsors that have followed suit in severing ties with Deen include Wal-Mart, Sears, K-Mart, Walgreens, and Smithfield Foods.

    Defending Deen, Carter noted that the slur was used “quite frequently” during the Jim Crow era in which Deen grew up (Deen was born in Albany, Ga. in 1947). Carter noted that he has “known Paula Deen quite well for a long period of time” and was quick to point out that Deen had sponsored social programs in Savannah that benefit, in Carter’s terms, “almost exclusively oppressed and poverty stricken black people.”

    Carter has apparently conferred with Deen and advised her to get the beneficiaries of her charities to speak out on her behalf to “show she’s changed in her relationship with African-Americans.” Otherwise, Carter said that she should take some time to “let the dust settle and make apologies.”

    While this has been nothing short of a disaster for Deen, it has had the effect of rallying her supporters. Not only have her fans lashed out at the Food Network, Deen’s books are selling particularly well. Her latest release, “Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Recipes All Lightened Up,” was the number one bestseller on Amazon this week.