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A&E Television Networks LLC lifted the suspension of “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson and said it will resume production of the popular cable television series.A&E, which suspended Robertson earlier this month for his remarks about homosexuality in GQ magazine, will air a national public-service campaign promoting “unity, tolerance and acceptance among all people,” according to an e-mailed statement from the New York-based network.
“He and his family have publicly stated they regret the ‘coarse language’ he used and the misinterpretation of his core beliefs based only on the article,” A&E said. “He also made it clear he would ‘never incite or encourage hate.’”
The decision allows A&E and the Robertson family to move ahead with one of cable television’s most-watched shows, a program seen by an average of 14.6 million people an episode, according to Nielsen data. The series produced almost $80 million of ad revenue for A&E this year, according to Kantar Media, and about $400 million in merchandise sales, Forbes said.
“By defining the ‘undefined suspension,’ A&E has created a win-win solution to a potentially fatal decision which could have meant the end of ‘Duck Dynasty’ and would have been a lose- lose proposition for all involved,” Porter Bibb, a managing partner at Mediatech Capital Partners, a New York-based merchant bank, said in an e-mail. Network Comment
Robertson, the 67-year-old head of a Louisiana family that makes duck-hunting gear, was suspended indefinitely by A&E on Dec. 18 after telling GQ magazine that homosexuals were akin to adulterers, the greedy, drunkards and swindlers and would not “inherit the kingdom of God.” A&E is co-owned by Walt Disney Co. and closely held Hearst Corp.
The network again disavowed Robertson’s comments, saying its values are “centered around creativity, inclusion and mutual respect.” A&E, in announcing its decision to stay with the show, also said many episodes of the program “reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness.”
Michael Feeney, an A&E spokesman, declined to comment beyond the statement. The Robertson family didn’t respond to a request for comment left with the office of Willie Robertson, a cast member and chief executive officer of the Duck Commander business.
“It’s been a win-win for everyone but those who care about minority rights, and I don’t mean just gay rights,” said David Craig, a professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles and a former A&E executive. Media Activist
Craig, also a media activist focused on gay rights, cited remarks about pre-civil rights era blacks that Robertson made in GQ. He described the Robertsons’ subsequent statements as “a regret in terms of language, not a regret in terms of meaning.”
The Robertson family started their TV career producing hunting videos and appeared on The Outdoor Channel in 2009 in a show called “Benelli Presents Duck Commander,” according to IMDB.com. The family sent a highlight reel around to TV networks that drew A&E’s interest.
The family, including the co-stars, said Dec. 19 on their website duckcommander.com that they couldn’t imagine “Duck Dynasty” going forward without their patriarch and that they were in talks with A&E about the show’s future.
The parties had time to work out the solution. A&E has recorded enough shows for the season that is scheduled to begin next month, the New York Times reported on Dec. 20. Shooting for episodes after that wouldnC
"I stand with Phil" petition links have been restored on Twitter after supporters of the "Duck Dynasty" patriarch, Phil Robertson, claimed the social media site purposely blocked the website for political reasons.
Earlier in the week, Twitter users attempting to post links to the "I stand with Phil" petition website were prevented from doing so, receiving messages that the content they were posting contained malware or that the site was spam.
"The URL IStandWithPhil.com was mistakenly flagged as spam tonight, by an outside organization that tracks spam sources. We have restored access and apologize for the error" Twitter told MarketingLand.com.
"[You] start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there — bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men," Robertson told GQ. "It seems like, to me a woman would be more desirable [than a man]. ... That's just me."
"She's got more to offer," he continued. "I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I'm saying? But hey, sin: It's not logical, my man. It's just not logical."
The "I stand with Phil" petition states that "Mr. Robertson’s comments in GQ Magazine are simply reflective of a Biblical view of sexuality, marriage, and family – a view that has stood the test of time for thousands of years and continues to be held by the majority of Americans and today’s world as a whole."
"Many members of the LGBT community may not agree with this view, but the notion that a free-thinking American should be discriminated against simply for expressing a perspective that is in conflict with another is patently un-American and flies in the face of true tolerance and civility," the "I stand with Phil" petition continues.
Hi! I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. Boy, do I have a merry Christmas story for you.
A duck hunter stared down the powerful forces of Hollywood — and Hollywood blinked! And the result is… It isn’t that gays are coming out of the closet. It’s that Christians and conservatives are coming out of the closet. A duck hunter may have fired the shot that ignited a new American Revolution.
Something amazing is happening: an awakening. More people showed support for the star of “Duck Dynasty” in 24 hours than signed up for Obamacare in its first three months — which means that at this point in time, Americans are starting to come to the conclusion we’d rather have a duck hunter in the White House than Barack Obama. We couldn’t do any worse. By the way, the duck hunter may be simple, but he never committed fraud to sell us his product.
By now, everyone knows about the whole controversy involving the reality TV show “Duck Dynasty” and its biggest star, Phil Robertson. Robertson made some controversial comments about homosexuality. That didn’t sit well with Hollywood.
A&E Networks suspended Robertson indefinitely, which is another way of saying: “You’re fired.” A&E thought it was a cut-and-dried case. They thought, “Who’d take the side of some uneducated, ignorant duck hunter?”
Perhaps someone should ask the executives of A&E what is feels like to step in duck poop? Because don’t look now; but that uneducated ignorant, duck hunter just took down an entire billion-dollar TV network. It’s no joke. A&E made the biggest mistake in the history of Hollywood. It showed middle America (the people who watch their TV shows) how the thought police tyrants in Hollywood (and D.C.) really think.
And America told Hollywood to “Go duck yourself!”
Here is what has me in a celebrating mood this Christmas. The tyrants and control freaks like Obama, Hollywood, the leftist thought police and the media elite are shaking in their boots. They have visions of peasants with pitchforks and gas cans at the gates of their offices and mansions.
I really do believe this was the moment in time when Christians and conservatives woke up from a long slumber. It took a simple duck hunter to inspire us. And what Middle America is saying to Obama and his socialist cabal is: “We have rights, too. We deserve free speech, too. We’ve had enough of your oppression and intolerance toward our values and beliefs. And we’re not going to take it anymore.”
A&E is backed into a corner, with no easy way out. Cracker Barrel has already backed down. That company took “Duck Dynasty” products off the shelves and got so many angry calls and emails that all the products are back on the shelf. Cracker Barrel actually had to issue an apology. In so many words, Cracker Barrel said: “We were flat-out wrong. Our customers have spoken.” Wow! You mean Christians and conservative consumers actually do have power! Amen to that.
It’s about time we woke up and realized we have rights, too. And we have power. It’s time tonot turn the other cheek. It’s time to stare right in the face of our oppressors and do unto them as they do unto us.
A&E claims the “indefinite suspension” (i.e., firing) of Robertson is about “branding.” What it’s insinuating is it couldn’t possibly allow a close-minded, Neanderthal gay basher to remain as the face of its billion-dollar brand.
Well guess what? The new brand for A&E is “the Christian-hating, Bible-bashing, intolerant TV network.” And in a Nation still dominated by Christians who actually believe in God, guns and the Bible, that’s not a viable brand. In other words: Oh, how the tables have turned. A&E is “ducked.”
Let me explain my background. I’m a lifelong Republican conservative. My heroes are Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. I’m a leading conservative commentator and bestselling conservative author of The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide. Yet I’ve always differed from my fellow conservatives on one issue: gay rights. Like my hero Goldwater, I have no problem with gays. Goldwater is the father of the modern-day conservative movement. Yet he, too, was pro-gay rights. In so many words, he once said of gays in the military, “I don’t care if they’re straight, I only care if they shoot straight.”
Ronald Reagan was also open-minded toward gays, as a result of a lifetime spent in Hollywood in the acting business. I’ve always been pro-gay rights. I believe what people do in their private bedrooms is none of government’s business.
But this isn’t a gay rights issue. The firing of Robertson, star of “Duck Dynasty,” is a free speech issue. It’s symbolic of the biased, one-sided way the media and leftist elites treat free speech. People have every right to express opinions considered “progressive” or “politically correct” nowadays. But the same rules don’t apply to salt-of-the-earth, apple-pie, middle-class Americans who believe in God, country, guns and, yes, the Bible.
You mean Christians and conservatives don’t they have the right to free speech just like Hollywood leftists? Just like Washington, D.C. socialists? You mean Christians or conservatives don’t have the right to express their views in the workplace, without fearing for their jobs? You mean if any of us quote the Bible at work, we can lose our jobs?
Robertson only expressed his personal opinions. Those opinions are shared by millions of Christians not only in America, but across the globe. Agree or disagree, he had every right to express that opinion without losing his job. I may disagree with the exact words he chose, but I stand hand-in-hand with Robertson to support his right to say it.
Oh, by the way, Robertson is a reality TV star. His success and popularity are based on his opinions. A&E fired a reality star for having controversial opinions? Are you kidding me? A&E execs need to visit a psychiatrist’s couch… pronto!
The “Duck Dynasty” scandal is about intolerance. But the intolerance is on part of Hollywood and A&E. The star of a reality show is allowed to have opinions. If you don’t like them, you have no right to ban them. That’s intolerance. That’s tyrant behavior. That’s McCarthyism. That’s the attitude of police states we find in countries run by tyrants like Josef Stalin, or Fidel Castro, or Huge Chavez, or the old East Germany. Is this what America has become under Obama?
I don’t have to agree with Robertson to stand behind him. I support free speech. If it can happen to Robertson, it can happen to anyone of us. I’m a TV and radio personality. I have opinions. I won’t change them — or back down. If you don’t like them, change the channel. That’s called freedom.
Defenders of A&E and Hollywood claim this is about “private property rights.” They say a private business (like A&E) has the right to fire anyone hurting its brand.
That would be true if this were a fair two-way street. I, too, support private property rights for business owners (like me) to run our businesses anyway we want. Only the CEO should decide who works for his company, not government.
But this is not the way the rules currently work in America. If any private business said “I won’t serve a customer because of his race or sexual orientation,” would that decision be allowed by government? Would Hollywood or the media elite take the business owner’s side? Of course not. So “private property rights” are extended only to people with the same views as Hollywood?
If a businessman, in his own private business, decided to fire any employee who supports gay marriage, would that decision be allowed? If a CEO fired employees because they were atheist, would that decision be allowed? If a CEO fired a woman because she was an outspoken supporter of abortion, would that decision stand?
How about if a CEO concerned about his brand said, “You’re fired because your outspoken support of gay rights is killing my business” — would that decision be allowed?
More specifically, how about a TV network firing the star of a reality TV show because he made remarks in an interview supporting abortion or gay marriage or stem-cell research. Would government, courts or Hollywood accept that decision? Leftists and gay rights organizations would beg government to intervene. And we’d see $100 million class action lawsuits galore.
So it’s a lie to say that private businesses have a right to fire who they want. The law is used only to protect leftist and “progressive” views. This was never about “branding.” It was about the shock and horror when people who drink Obama-Kool-Aid realized that their biggest TV star actually believes in Christian and conservative values. And he’s popular. Gasp! This could be trouble. This kind of thinking could spread. They had to move quickly to silence him.
Why? Because Obama and his socialist cabal are petrified of free thought. They keep their modern-day Tammany Hall going through intimidation and the demonization of opposing viewpoints. They use Saul Alinsky tactics: destroying the reputation of your opponent and making a mockery of him and his views. They want to set an example. Once you see the star of “Duck Dynasty” lose his job and be vilified in the media for merely giving his opinion and quoting the Bible, you’ll never try it yourself. You’ll be put in your place, too frightened to talk out loud about your views ever again.
Leftists, socialists, communists and intellectual elitists cannot afford to allow conservative or Christian values to be affirmed by a pop culture celebrity — for fear it might start a trend. It might stir up the masses. It might encourage conservatives to speak out. It might embolden Christians to quote the Bible without fear. Hollywood cannot allow that. Because they know it could get out of hand. Americans might actually be inspired to fight back. Some of us might escape the thought-police plantation.
Well, I’ve got news for you: It’s too late. The spark is lit. You just woke a sleeping giant.
A duck hunter may have just ignited a revolution. Robertson just went from TV phenomenon to American hero. Salt-of-the-earth Middle America has been now unchained. The gloves are off. We are free to speak our minds. And the truth shall set us free. Here’s what we have to say to control-freak tyrants like Obama the Hollywood elite thought police: “Duck you!”
And now that we’re free to speak our minds…
Let’s start by throwing out that politically correct pablum “Happy Holidays.” It’s time to stop cowering in fear. It’s time to say publicly and loudly “Merry Christmas.” It’s not a generic holiday. It’s a religious holiday. It’s called Christmas because it celebrates the birth of Christ. Can you imagine that?
Open your window and scream it out loud: “Merry Christmas to all. And to anyone who doesn’t like it, we don’t give a duck what you think.”
The revolution has begun. And capitalism still works, too. A&E just made Robertson a billionaire. I’m Wayne Allyn Root for Personal Liberty. God bless America. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
A local sheriff in Georgia’s Douglas County has pulled his entire department from the filming of Duck Dynasty, declaring they will no longer assist as A&E after the First Amendment violations and suspension against Phil Robertson. Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller made the announcement on his Facebook page over the weekend and said that it was “time for someone other than Hollywood and the news media to stand up for what is right.”
Miller said that A&E’s suspension of Robertson for his comments about homosexuality in a GQ interview was “unreasonable” and could not be tolerated by him. “I am sure A&E made what they believe is a good business decision. Many people who disagree with A&E might choose to remain silent and there was a time when I might have done the same, but no longer,” he wrote. “A&E has produced more than a half dozen programs with the assistance of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. They will not do any more with my assistance while I am sheriff.”
However, his department may not have even been needed for the show because there may not be another season. Robertson’s family has expressed outrage over their patriarch’s First Amendment rights being violated and have refused to film the show without him. “While some of Phil’s unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible. Phil would never incite or encourage hate,” read a statement from his family on the Duck Commander website. “We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty.”
After A&E indefinitely suspended the reality star, numerous social media petitions circulated to get him back on the air. A Change.org petition to bring Robertson back to Duck Dynasty has collected over 115,000 signatures, while the Facebook page “Bring Back Phil Robertson” has over one million likes. The petition states that, “There is a difference between respecting someone rights to exercise free will and imposing on others what we believe. Phil has done nothing more than state what he believes in. Just because homosexuals do not agree, does not mean Mr. Robertson needs to be suspended.”
First Cracker Barrel, now NBC. A local NBC affiliate in Wisconsin released a statement apologizing for one of their anchors criticizing Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson for his comments about homosexuality being a sin. Anchor Christine Bellport made disparaging remarks about Robertson on-air by declaring that “when you look at the guy, I’m not surprised with the comments he made.” She also admitted that she was making the remarks without ever watching an episode of Duck Dynasty because she “[was] not going to waste my time on that.”
After viewers flooded the TV station with angry phone calls, e-mails and tweets, NBC 15 release a statement apologizing for Bellport’s comments. “The comments made today on The Morning Show by anchor Christine Bellport regarding the Duck Dynasty story do not reflect the views of NBC 15 or the NBC 15 newsroom,” said the network. NBC 15 apologizes for the comments and regrets that Christine offended viewers and Mr. Robertson.
Last week, restaurant chain Cracker Barrel decided to pull Duck Dynastymerchandise from their stores because they felt Robertson had offended gay people, speaking in a statement about “equal treatment of all people” and “mutual respect.” However, Cracker Barrel customers blasted the company and declared it was Robertson’s constitutional right to say how he felt about gays. Many also threatened to boycott the restaurant chain and not dine there in the future.
Just 24 hours after their Duck Dynasty merch ban, Cracker Barrel apologized to their customers and the Robertson family. “You told us we made a mistake and you weren’t shy about it … you flat out told us we were wrong,” said Cracker Barrel in a statement. “We apologize for offending you. We respect all individuals’ rights to express their beliefs.”
It seems as though corporate America would like to learn things the hard way, at least in matters relating to Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson’s recent controversial comments about homosexuality.
First, we saw Cracker Barrel pull Duck Dynasty merchandise in response to Robertson’s comments. Then, after realizing that Cracker Barrel customers are far more likely to be rural, southern people as opposed to gay rights advocates, the company did an about face and restored Duck Dynasty merchandise to its store shelves.
Yesterday, it was revealed that Twitter was censoring tweets that included the domain iStandWithPhil.com. We are certain this was happening because we actually tried to tweet our own article about the subject on Twitter. Unfortunately, the title included the domain name (iStandWithPhil.com) and Twitter wouldn’t let us. So, we had to change the title on the fly just to tweet a link to the article.
Well, Twitter learned the hard way, just like Cracker Barrel did, that Phil Robertson has quite a lot of friends. Twitter has no apologized for censoring that domain.
We wonder how long it will take A&E to learn its lesson the hard way. As of this writing, Phil Robertson is still on hiatus after his recent remarks about homosexuality were made public.
All this ballyhoo and hullabaloo about the “Duck Commander” and his biblical reference – why?
The blowback and national firestorm raging in the wake of the remarks by the patriarch of “Duck Dynasty” is a stunning indictment of left-wing hypocrisy. The visceral response and resultant leftist temper tantrum gives us a revealing look behind the left’s mask of intolerant tolerance and the true objective of its “pro-gay” agenda.
People are free to think what they want. It’s when you torture, beat, hang or burn gay people alive – that’s the line in the sand, that’s real “homophobia.” Where’s the A&E special on the Muslim oppression of gays under the Shariah? Where is the outrage about that oppression from CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, etc.? Where is the worldwide outrage of the vicious anti-gay Shariah?
Just as the Matthew Shepard case had nothing to do with homophobia, the controversy over plucky duck patriarch Phil Robertson has nothing to do with gay rights. Had a left-wing comic or actor made such remarks (and they have), it would have been water off a duck’s back. But the ducky patriarch cited the Bible, and that thar’s fighting words.
These vicious attacks using false narratives are very effective. Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered in Wyoming. His killing became the icon of gay hate and the impetus behind the anti-constitutional “hate-crime” legislation. The fallacious tale of Mathew Shepard resulted in the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, which, according to the Justice Department, “provides funding and technical assistance to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to help them to more effectively investigate and prosecute hate crimes.”
All crime is hate – criminalizing the thought behind it was a fatal line to cross. Hate-speech laws would inevitably follow hate-crime legislation. The fact is, Matthew Shepard was murdered by his gay lover in a meth deal gone bad. Shepard’s sexual preference “certainly wasn’t the motive in the homicide,” investigative journalist Stephen Jimenez quotes police investigator Ben Fritzen in his blockbuster book, “The Book of Matt.” “What it came down to really is drugs and money,” said Jimenez, who is also gay.
Passing thought crime laws based on a lie is instrumental to the left’s totalitarian war on freedom of conscience and freedom of speech, and consistent with the laws of the Shariah.
The feathers were flying in the wake of the “Duck Dynasty” patriarch’s obvious embrace of Christianity and the show’s popularity. “Duck Dynasty” is the highest rated show on cable. This flew in the face of the left’s successful war on Christianity. They see this as an all-out assault – hence the vicious blowback against Phil Robertson after his remarks.
This is an attack on Christianity, not on “homophobia.”
If the left really cared about “homophobia,” there would be leftist marches in the streets against the brutal oppression of gays under the Shariah. There would be outcries and condemnation of the torture, hanging and murder of gays in Muslim societies. Muslim anti-gay crime would be vigorously prosecuted in the United States, but that is hardly the case. Just the opposite, in fact. In 2010, Muslim gangs were targeting gays in San Francisco and shooting them in the face with BB guns, while filming the attacks. The response from law enforcement in the gay mecca of America was tocover it up.
Where was the pushback? Where was the outcry from the LGBT community about the Shariah mobs and the subsequent cover-up by the media and law enforcement? What if a non-Muslim had shot a Muslim in the face with a BB gun just because he was Muslim? Do you think that the story would have sunk as quickly as this Muslim targeting of gays in San Francisco did? We would still be hearing about it from Eric Holder and Obama more than three years later.
Just last week, a Muslim cleric in India issued a fatwa against gays, saying that “a person may be burnt alive, pushed from a high wall or be beaten publicly with stones if he indulges” in homosexual activity.
Also last week, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) was named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yet Yusuf Islam has said that material that’s favorable to homosexuality in school curricula is designed by people who want to “feast off the innocence of our children for their own abominable sexual appetites.” That’s far stronger than what Phil Robertson said – yet A&E drops him from the show while Yusuf goes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Gay organizations in America have said nothing about Yusuf Islam, but they loudly condemned my ad campaign highlighting Muslim oppression of gays under the Shariah. The visceral response of the San Francisco City Council, the Human Rights Commission, SFHRC head Theresa Sparks and the enemedia to our “Gays under the Shariah” ad campaign was obscene proof of leftist hypocrisy. They called my ads hate when I merely quoted Muslim political leaders, spiritual leaders and cultural voices in the Muslim community who incited hatred and violence in their vicious anti-gay diatribes, and called for their torture and their execution.
That’s hypocrisy – as is their persecution of Phil Robertson.
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