Paula Deen apologizes, says 'I am not a quitter'

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Paula Deen turned a live cooking demonstration on a Florida beach into a public apology for racist comments that dethroned the former queen of Southern cooking and nearly destroyed her lucrative brand-name enterprise.

After taking to the stage Sunday at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, the former Food Network star told her audience about the “very hard summer” she and her team have had.

“I have heard on more than one occasion … that I’ve never apologized,” Deen said, according to an Associated Press report. “So if anybody did not hear me apologize, I would like to apologize to those who did not hear me.”

Deen did not discuss the specific allegations to which she was apologized for, but did say she was glad to be back before the public.

“I am not a quitter,” she told the friendly crowd.

Last summer, Deen admitted to using racial slurs in the past after a former employee made the allegation in a lawsuit filed against her. As a result, Deen was booted from the Food Network and saw nearly all her sponsorship and book deals fall apart within weeks.

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