His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks

December 19, 2013 6:42 AM

Phil Robertson, a star of A&E's "Duck Dynasty," has been suspended indefinitely following a published interview in GQ where, among other things, he states, of Black people: "Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues” and that "adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won't inherit the kingdom of God."

Fox News panel

GLAAD on Wednesday condemned his remarks as "some of the vilest and most extreme statements uttered against LGBT people in a mainstream publication" and said "his quote was littered with outdated stereotypes and blatant misinformation."

posted by roomthreeseventeen (12 comments total)

Meh. Outragefilter. "Old guy holds outdated viewpoint" - is that really surprising?

At least the network have given it a token disapproving response, though.
posted by Brockles at 6:45 AM on December 19, 2013

What's his take on Santa Claus' ethnicity?
posted by absalom at 6:46 AM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

All of this really matters.
posted by Think_Long at 6:46 AM on December 19, 2013

Is there a way we can just fast forward ten years to the part where this guy is arrested for propositioning an undercover cop at a rest stop somewhere?
posted by I_Zimbra at 6:46 AM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Looks like I found another Facebook litmus test to figure out who needs a blockin'.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:47 AM on December 19, 2013 [7 favorites]

When you hire someone to be a caricature of rural white culture, you sort of lose the moral high ground when they proceed to talk like a caricature of rural white culture.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 6:50 AM on December 19, 2013 [11 favorites]

Schmuck Dynasty
posted by Renoroc at 6:51 AM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

I kind of wish A&E hadn't suspended him. They've made a martyr out of an extremely popular figure and given his remarks a lot more publicity than if they had just been in GQ. Now we have to go through the exhausting back and forth of liberal media censorship and freedom of speech and boo hoo whatever, all so A&E can pretend like they didn't know what an asshole he was.
posted by ghharr at 6:51 AM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Good Old Boy is neither good nor a boy, merely old?
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:51 AM on December 19, 2013 [3 favorites]

I don't agree with anything he said obviously, but it's a little weird that his statements of honest fact about his beliefs, which he no doubt espouses constantly on the show but A&E cuts out, are grounds for his dismissal. Unlike Paula Deen, who makes food, the show is explicitly about his down-home conservative lifestyle. I just assumed everyone watching it watched it for that reason to either laugh at or sympathize with that (as Parasite says) caricature.

Not that I'm sorry he's fired, but when I read the article when it was posted here in the lost hours a few days ago I just thought "Huh, well he's kind of an asshole. Guess I won't ever watch that show then." Never figured it would be a controversy of any kind. Maybe it's good that it is!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:52 AM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

So they suspend him, but they're leaving the show on the air, like most of the rest of his family doesn't likely believe exactly the same things? That said, it's not like I'm furious and want the show off the air immediately, because...

When you hire someone to be a caricature of rural white culture, you sort of lose the moral high ground when they proceed to talk like a caricature of rural white culture.

That. All of this is basically exactly the stuff I would have expected him to say given the premise of the show, and it seems like they hired a bunch of people to be exactly like this and now are trying to engage in ass-covering once someone's actually said it out loud on the record.
posted by Sequence at 6:52 AM on December 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

no one was singing the blues

This is both sociologically and musicologically inaccurate.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:52 AM on December 19, 2013 [3 favorites]