Mary Elizabeth Williams Speaks for Me

Posted By elissa on Jan 19, 2012 | 1 comment

…concerning Paula Deen’s announcement that she has type 2 diabetes.

Deen meets the criteria for a perfect storm of risk factors. She turns 65 on Thursday; she admitted last fall she smoked a pack and a half a day. She will also deep fry anything, and I mean anything: macaroni and cheese, stuffing, even butter itself.  For years, she’s existed as the Keith Richards of cholesterol, seeming to survive solely on pork fat, powdered sugar and rum.

…But here’s where the story takes a turn more distasteful than a cheesy ham and banana casserole. Now Deen is jumping on board the health-advice bandwagon. Three batter-dipped years after her diagnosis — and after three years of silence about her condition — she’s teamed with diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk to promote the company. She and her two sons, Bobby and Jamie, are appearing in a new campaign that includes “diabetes-friendly meals” and Deen’s genteel admissions that she’s walking more and cutting back on sweet tea.

…Deen knew she had diabetes for three years and still pushed doughnut burgers on her fans. Then she waited to tell people until she had an endorsement deal with a drug company. It’s hard to see that choice as anything but shabby.

Word.

I loathe celebrity gossip. The rich and famous don’t “belong” to their fans: they have the right to keep their health info (and other personal details) to themselves. Thus, under ordinary circumstances, I’d be 100% supportive of Deen’s decision to keep her condition to herself. But a celebrity chef is a horse of a somewhat different color, at least when it comes to developing lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes. Deen could have done her fans a service by being honest about her diagnosis at the time it was made; and by discussing ways to cook lighter, healthier meals at least some of the time. Doing it at the behest of a pharmaceutical company is about as cynical as it gets.