Diabetes Drug Maker Suspends Deal With Deen

Ida Mae Astute/ABC

Paula Deen in 2012.

The celebrity chef Paula Deen has run into trouble with another major corporate partner: the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said on Thursday that it would suspend its relationship in the wake of her admission that she used racist language in the past.

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Novo Nordisk, which makes the diabetes drug Victoza, has suspended its multimillion dollar endorsement deal with Ms. Deen.

After that announcement, Target said it would stop selling cookware and other products bearing her name, as Home Depot and Wal-Mart had said on Wednesday. The television shopping outlet QVC said it would “take a pause” in its dealings with Ms. Deen.

But the suspended partnership with the drug maker is perhaps her biggest setback of all: the undoing of a lucrative endorsement deal that generated her first scandal.

Ms. Deen, 66, has been the public face of the company’s diabetes medication Victoza since January 2012, when she simultaneously announced that she had Type 2 diabetes and endorsed the drug. The timing set off a storm of criticism that Ms. Deen â€" whose cookbooks and television shows promote the lavish use of sugar and fat â€" had misled her fans and acted opportunistically because she had received the diagnosis several years earlier.

Ms. Deen was paid $6 million for a two-year contract to promote Victoza, said a person who was involved in the deal.

In its statement on Thursday, the company said: “Novo Nordisk and Paula Deen have mutually agreed to suspend our patient education activities for now, while she takes time to focus her attention where it is needed.”

Novo Nordisk, which has the top-selling portfolio of diabetes drugs in the United States, has long made special efforts to reach blacks through marketing efforts and medical sponsorships.

Amy Doner, president of the Amy Doner Group, which brokers deals between celebrities and pharmaceutical companies, said the fact that the company had left open the possibility of resuming its relationship with Ms. Deen indicated that she had been an effective spokeswoman. Ms. Doner, who was not involved in the deal between Ms. Deen and Novo Nordisk, said she would not be surprised if the campaign resumed at some point.

“America loves a comeback,” she said. “She has admitted her mistake.”

Ms. Doner declined to discuss the money that celebrities earn from working with pharmaceutical companies. “I have done deals from $5,000 to $2 million” she said. When told Ms. Deen had received $6 million over two years, she said, “That’s a significant amount of money.”

The cascade of cancellations has followed the revelation last week that after being sued by a former restaurant employee who charged discrimination, Ms. Deen admitted in a deposition that she had used racial slurs. The Food Network has stopped showing her programs, and Smithfield Foods has dropped her as a spokeswoman.

QVC, which had said earlier that it was reviewing its relationship with Ms. Deen, said it was troubled by her past remarks. While she responds to the accusations, the company said, she and her products will not appear on the channel.

“Some of you may wonder whether this is a ‘forever’ decision â€" whether we are simply ending our association with Paula,” it said in a statement. “We don’t think that’s how relationships work. People deserve second chances.”

The one bright spot for Ms. Deen on Thursday came from Amazon.com, where her coming cookbook of diabetes-friendly recipes rose to the No. 1 best-seller slot.

A version of this article appeared in print on June 28, 2013, on page B7 of the New York edition with the headline: Drug Maker Suspends Deal With Deen.