Rebb'n Al, fuel up that shakedown-funded private jet. You're needed again.
Duane "Dog" Chapman's mouth has gotten him into trouble with his TV network. A & E has suspended production of the program, "Dog the Bounty Hunter," after Chapman was tape-recorded in a conversation about his son's girlfriend. It was about about how the girlfriend apparently told the National Enquirer about Chapman using the N-word.What are the chances this "spiritual advisor" lives in Harlem and sports a conch, and "making things right" entails a visit to this "spiritual advisor's" radio show? I'd put a bet on this, but my monthly allowance is already earmarked for getting that second pair of Stephon Marbury sneakers off layaway. Keep buyin' them AB.com T-Shirts, ya'll. I need the money.
"I'm not going to take a chance ever in life of losing everything I've worked for 30 years because some f------ n----- heard us using n----- and turn us into the Enquirer magazine..."
Chapman says the recording on the Enquirer's website was a private phone conversation between him and his son. He says he was angry over his son's choice of a friend for reasons other than her race. In a statement, Chapman says, "I am deeply disappointed in myself for speaking out of anger to my son and using such a hateful term." He continued," I have the utmost respect and aloha for black people..."
Production of the show has been suspended while the network investigates the allegations. Meanwhile Chapman says he will be speaking with his spiritual advisor to see how to make things right.
I can't say I've ever really watched this show, since my only exposure to A&E is during Flip That House. I do, however know that this show is outrageously popular with a certain segment of the population. My ex-boss dressed up as Dog, and his wife as whatever Dog's well-endowed wife's name is for Halloween a few years ago. Of course they took 8 million photos of this and my ex-boss fwd them to our entire division the next day. Everyone thought this was high comedy. It just confirmed to me that my ex-boss was a complete and total tool. Renting a costume to dress up like an obscure basic cable reality-show character is one thing. Sending out photographic evidence to your co-workers is a whole n'other level of douche-baggery.
Thank God for re-orgs.
On a more serious note, I can't help but think that with this week's slow news cycle, this will turn into the next Michael Richards/Don Imus/Al Campanis/Greaseman type of media frenzy. Never mind that this show is on the nether regions of basic cable and many of the folks getting all in a tizzy will have never heard of Dog The Bounty Hunter, just as they hadn't heard of pre-"nappy headed hoes" Don Imus. The cable news networks will hang this dude in effigy, the usual suspects/pimps (Dyson, Rebb'n Al, Jesse, Armstrong Williams, Roland Martin) will get on TV and debate the (de)merits of the N-Word, Dog will be cancelled, Dog's supporters (like my ex-boss) will spout the usual "black people are so sensitive" defenses, and Dog will quietly resurface next spring on TLC, with a richer contract and more viewers. Rinse and repeat.
Seriously folks, don't get too bent outta shape over this kinda stuff. Don't fall for the okey doke. Getting Dog The Bounty Hunter cancelled is going to improve the lives of black America about as much as getting BET UnCut! cancelled improved the image of black women. That is to say, not so much.
Save your energy (and letter writing, and email forwarding) for things that actually matter. Leave this basic cable nonsense to the guys who do it best.
Their jets are already fueled, and ready to go.
AUDIO: Listen to Dog The Bounty Hunter Use the Word Nigga Like His Name is Curtis Jackson - Warning! NSFW Language [National Enquirer]
Dog Sorry About N-Word; Show Suspended [KGMB9]
