Paula Deen's Restaurant Nightmare: Ex-Employees Left Scrambling For Work As Family Kitchen Closes Before NYE

Paula Deen's Family Kitchen in Pier Park is no longer open to the public, leaving some of their former employees scrambling to find work, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The closure laid off around 30 employees, according to reports, which claimed they were given $200 in severance pay after being left "blindsided" by the news.

The disgraced Food Network star has reportedly dealt with financial woes for more than a decade now, previously stirring up controversy when it was claimed in 2013 that she used the N-word and wanted to throw her brother a "plantation-style" wedding with Black servers.

Deen later addressed the allegation that she used the racially-charged term to describe another restaurant's waitstaff that she wanted to emulate.

"That's not what these men were," Deen explained during her deposition in a lawsuit filed by one of her former Savannah, Georgia, restaurant managers. "They were professional Black men doing a fabulous job," she said.

The racial discrimination claims in the filing were ultimately dismissed in addition to the entire lawsuit which brought forward claims of sexual harassment in the workplace. Both sides reached a settlement "without any award of costs or fees to any party."

Deen lost a TV show, a book deal, and several lucrative endorsements amid the controversy.

"In her effort to find a get-rich-quick scheme, she overproduced," an insider spilled about her restaurants. "Now, she's selling off."

Family Kitchen in Panama City Beach has since shut its doors, having previously closed back in 2019 under a different licensing partner.

That year, it was announced that two of Deen's Family Kitchen Florida-based restaurants closed their doors, the other based in Destin.

Employees believed that was a fluke and were shocked the Panama City location suffered the same fate after the place reopened two years later under someone else.

Ex-staffers said the restaurant closed a second time due to its inability to pay rent and wages.

"Having to look for a job off-season is really hard here on the Beach," former employee Tammy Cordell told a local news outlet.

"I had two jobs, and I needed this job," added former employee Andrea O'Neal. "I have a son I need to take care of and feed. I don't get any kind of government assistance. Everything I make is from me working hard. It really hurts."

RadarOnline.com has reached out to a rep for Deen for comment.