Sears, Penney Sever Ties With Paula Deen

Sears Essentials (Kmart) logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEW YORK — Paula Deen’s media and merchandising empire is collapsing.

Sears, J.C. Penney and Walgreen said Friday that they’re cutting ties with Paula Deen, adding to the growing list of companies severing their relationship following revelations that the Southern celebrity chef used racial slurs in the past.

Meanwhile, Paula Deen’s publisher has canceled a deal with her for multiple books, including an upcoming cookbook that was the No. 1 seller on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Ballantine Books announced Friday it would not release “Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up,” which was scheduled for October and was the first of a five-book deal announced early last year. Interest in it had surged as Deen, who grew up in Albany, Ga., and specializes in Southern comfort food, came under increasing attack for acknowledging she had used the N-word.

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130628/NEWS04/130629609/sears-penney-sever-ties-with-paula-deen#full_story

Closing Of Newark Star-Ledger Possible

The Star-Ledger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEWARK – Owners of the Star-Ledger plan to close New Jersey’s largest newspaper by year’s end if production unions don’t make concessions in contract negotiations, the publisher said Wednesday.

In a letter to staff, publisher Richard Vezza said the company felt “pushed into a corner” by the unions, whose contracts expire in July.  Vezza said they have until Sept. 27 to make compromises or else the paper will shut down.

“This is not a threat.  This is reality,” Vezza said in an interview.

The paper’s website, www.nj.com, is owned by a separate company and will continue to publish “no matter what happens with the Ledger,” Vezza said.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20130627_Closing_of_Star-_Ledger_possible.html#bdzrJUzhQ0AOWDGl.99