Paula Deen is currently working on a new umbrella company that she hopes will lift her out of the financial dip that occurred in the wake of her scandal.
Celebrity chef Deen, well-known for her Food Network show and various cookbooks, has reportedly locked down a $75 million loan from a private equity firm called Najafi Companies. Deen plans to use those funds to pay for a new company for her restaurants, endorsements, books and other media ventures, the Associated Press reported.
The company will be called "Paula Deen Ventures," and aims to steer clear of a licensing model so that the Savannah-based cook can have more autonomy over management and ownership of her assets.
CEO of the investment company Jahm Najafi told AP he thought Deen would be a solid investment due to her "loyal fan base."
Deen wrote in a statement that she was thankful for her supporters, "whose love and support have built my brands."
Paula Deen first got into trouble in June 2012, after she admitted to having used the n-word in the past.
Deen also had plans to organize a "Southern" wedding inspired by a restaurant she'd visited with her husband - complete with an all-black wait staff to pose as "slaves."
"I mean, it was really impressive," Deen said of the restaurant at the time. "That restaurant represented a certain era in America...after the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War...It was not only black men, it was black women...I would say they were slaves."
Deen was subsequently dropped from her Food Network show, lost her contracts with QVC, K-Mart, Walmart, Walgreens, Target, Smithfield Foods and more, totaling in overall losses of about $12.5 million.