Previously, it was reported that A&E halted production of Duane "Dog" Chapman's reality series, Dog the Bounty Hunter, after a taped phone conversation in which Chapman repeatedly uses the N-word was released online.

On Friday, November 2, the network took a step further and announced that the reality series has been pulled off the air for an indefinite period of time.

"In evaluating the circumstances of the last few days, A&E has decided to take Dog the Bounty Hunter off the network's schedule for the foreseeable future," a network spokesperson said.  "We hope that Mr. Chapman continues the healing process that he has begun."

The spokesperson also claimed that the series, one of the highest-rated programs on A&E, has not been canceled and that the cable network will be reviewing the situation again in a couple of weeks.

However, a number of civil right groups have called for the show's cancellation, and at least two advertisers are reported to have pulled out from the series.

Civil rights leaders said they are not satisfied with the removal of Dog the Bounty Hunter from the network's schedule, while several groups in Los Angeles sent a letter to network honchos demanding a cancellation.

The letter said that the comments made by Duane Chapman are a “a vicious attack on and call to end interracial relations, as well as an incitement to violence.”  Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, said the groups believe Chapman's comments are also more damaging than those made by radio personality Don Imus, who was fired by CBS in April over his remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

"If they can essentially say, 'We're firing Imus in the front door and bring him in the back door later on,' they can also do the same with this guy and his show," Hutchinson said.  "It seems like to me A&E is keeping their options open."

Shortly after the release of the taped conversation, in which Duane Chapman is heard trying to convince his son Tucker to dump his black girlfriend, Monique, the 54-year-old reality star issued an apology and explained that he is “disappointed in [Tucker's] choice of a friend, not due to her race, but her character.”

Brook Hart, Chapman's attorney, said his client is not a racist and has vowed never to use the racial slur again.  Hart also said that it was Tucker himself who taped the conversation and sold it to the tabloid National Enquirer.  David Perel, the tabloid's editor-in-chief, has refused to comment on how he obtained the tape.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Reuters
(Image Courtesy of Reuters)