Days after a taped conversation, wherein Dog the Bounty Hunter star Duane "Dog" Chapman can be heard liberally using the N-word, was leaked, the famed bounty hunter and reality star went on FOX News Hannity & Colmes, and tearfully apologized for using the racial slur and explained what prompted him to do it.

Apparently, the 54-year-old has always felt a certain kinship with the black community, and claims he never used the N-word out of hate.

"There's a special connection that I thought I had between me and black America.  And I used to say, 'I'm black, too,'” Duane Chapman told Hannity & Colmes' Sean Hannity on Tuesday.  “In other words, my whole life I've been called a half-breed, a convict, king of the trailer trash, this and that… so when I stood there and said, 'I kind of know what you feel like, because I've been there, too,' that I felt that I could embrace and like, as brothers… say the word.”

Chapman went on to explain that after everything that's happened, he has come to realize that he “is not black at all,” and that no matter how much he associates himself with black people, he is not free to say the word.

"All black people in America I owe an apology to,” he said.  "I owe the rest of the people, whether they are black or not in America, an apology because people look up to me."

The Bounty Hunter star also said he would be willing to kill himself if it means gaining the country's forgiveness, and revealed that he wants to be buried at an historic slave burial ground in Mount Vernon.

"I want to be buried right where they're at because I will never be forgiven as [long as] I'm alive," he said.

The taped conversation was leaked to the public late last month.  On the conversation, which was posted on the website of the National Enquirer tabloid, Duane Chapman can be heard urging his son, Tucker, to end his relationship with a black woman named Monique Shinnery.

Tucker, who has done time for armed robbery, is believed to be the one who sold the tape to the tabloid.  When asked why he thinks his own son set him up, the elder Chapman said Tucker most likely needed the money to support “some kind of habit.”

The scandal has brought dire consequences for Duane Chapman's television career.  On Friday, A&E, the network that airs Dog the Bounty Hunter, pulled off reruns and took the show out of its schedule for an indefinite period of time.  Several major advertisers have also withdrawn their support for their show.

Do you think Dog's apology was sincere?

Yes.
No.

-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: E! Online, The Associated Press
(Image Courtesy of  E! Online)