The Dog Days of Reality TV
A&E Yanks Show After Bounty Hunter Uses Racist Slur Repeatedly
As regular readers may know, I’m generally not into reality shows. But, how could anyone miss the latest news coming out of that genre? Duane “Dog” Chapman, the Hawaii-based bail bondsman and star of A&E’s popular reality series Dog the Bounty Hunter, is in deep doo-doo, with very good cause.
In a recorded telephone conversation with his son Tucker, Chapman took it upon himself to drop the dreadful N-bomb several times while referring to Tucker’s black girlfriend Monique Shinnery. Part of his tirade included the following offensive excerpt:
It’s not because she’s black, it’s because we use the word “n—” sometimes here. I’m not going to take a chance ever in life of losing everything I’ve worked for for thirty years because some fucking n— heard us say “n—” and turned us into the Enquirer magazine. … It’s not that they’re black, it’s none of that, it’s that we use the word “n—.” We don’t mean “you fucking scum n— without a soul.” We don’t mean that shit. But, America would think we mean that.
Lovely.
In the greatest bit of irony in recent memory, the National Enquirer did indeed get a hold of the recording (and how the publication did is something I can’t wait to find out) and promptly posted it on the Internet for the entire world to hear. That was yesterday.
A&E swiftly stopped production on Chapman’s Dog the Bounty Hunter as soon as it learned of the conversation, stating that the basic-cable network “take[s] this matter very seriously” and will “take appropriate action” after it completes an investigation.
Today, Chapman has predictably coughed up the requisite profuse public apology, claiming his nasty language was “completely taken out of context” and that he was merely “disappointed in his [son's] choice of a friend, not due to her race, but her character.”
Sure.
If you’re a Dog fan, keep your fingers crossed that the show survives this scandal. If you’re like me and have never wasted a second watching the series in the first place, carry on as usual, secure in your perceptive decision to stay away.
UPDATES
November 1, 2007
Lawyer: Bounty Hunter’s Son Sold Tape
Television bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman’s son taped a private phone conversation in which the reality star used a racial slur repeatedly, then sold it to a tabloid for “a lot of money,” Chapman’s lawyer said Thursday.
“I guess because of whatever level of anger he had of his father, he felt the need to express it in that manner,” attorney Brook Hart told The Associated Press.
I should have known…
November 2, 2007
A&E Houses Dog
A&E has indefinitely pulled all airings of Dog the Bounty Hunter effective Friday, two days after star Duane “Dog” Chapman’s racist rant hit the Internet.
An A&E spokesperson insisted the network’s flagship series—one of the top-rated shows on cable with around 2 million viewers per first-run episode—has not been canceled.
“When the inquiry is concluded, we will take appropriate action,” A&E said in an earlier statement.
No surprise here whatsoever.
November 3, 2007
Sinus Buster Halts Ad Plans For A&E Over Dog The Bounty Hunter’s Racial Rant
With a brewing racial scandal on the set of A&E’s popular show “Dog The Bounty Hunter”, SiCap Industries LLC, makers of Sinus Buster capsaicin nasal sprays has halted plans to advertise on the Arts & Entertainment network until the show is permanently pulled.
“They should pull the show completely and never air reruns or anything with Chapman ever again. A&E should wash their hands of this guy. Dog’s rant has personally disrupted my faith in people, and we will never associate any of our brands with any forum that supports racism in any way. As far as we’re concerned, the only way A&E will be in our ad budget next year is if they dump the Dog. This goes far beyond what Don Imus said on MSNBC, and they fired him immediately,” adds [president of SiCap Industries, LLC, Wayne Perry].
This was bound to happen eventually.
Duane “Dog” Chapman photo courtesy of A&E
