Atlanta mayor weighs in on Paula Deen comments

ATLANTA — Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is weighing in on the controversy over celebrity chef Paula Deen.
   
The famed Savannah chef is facing a firestorm for admitting to using racial slurs in the past. On Friday, the Food Network dropped Deen.

"It was just very unfortunate and totally unacceptable language," Reed said on NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday morning.

Deen's admission was made in a deposition last month. She is being sued by a former manager of one her restaurants for $1.2 million, citing she knew about racial and sexual harassment by her brother and did nothing about it.

She has since apologized for her derogatory language.

"I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done," Deen said in a YouTube post.

Reed said, "Folks are going to be hearing what she has to say over the next few weeks.  I think she has apologized once. She's going to continue to do that." 

Outside of her Savannah restaurant, The Lady and Sons, fans of the chef with a media empire that includes books and TV shows, were torn.

"It breaks my heart. I've watched her a long time," one woman said.

QVC may also be considering cutting its relationship with Deen.

Deen is looking to the positive, saying she wants to learn and grow from the experience.

"Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable," she said on YouTube. "Please forgive me for the mistakes that I have made."

WSBTV