Duane 'Dog' Chapman, of "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" fame was recently outed by the National Enquirer as a racist.
In a tape recording of a conversation with his son, he tells his son that his African American girlfriend is not welcome around Dog's home or business because the word "nigger" is occasionally used there, and he's afraid that even if everyone's on their best behavior, it'll slip out, and then she'll go to the National Enquirer, and he'd lose everything. Chapman tried to say it wasn't used in a mean and hurtful way, but he was sure it would be interpreted as such and he couldn't risk his kids dating people of African heritage and bringing them home.
Apparently his son had been dating the woman for seven months and was in love. In the phone call, Chapman cast many aspersions on her character, called her a "nigger" repeatedly, and ridiculed his son's love for the woman. Is it any wonder that it soon turns out that his son was the one who made the tape and sold it to the Enquirer?
In an article revealing that special tidbit, it says: "[Chapman's lawyer] said his client is not a racist and vowed never to use the word again."
Really? If you use that word in casual speech and are afraid you'll get caught blurting it out when you're off your guard, you're a damn racist. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about that. You may not be overtly racist, but if you can use that word that casually, you don't think well of black people. If you thought of them as well as you did people of your own race, you'd feel no need, no desire, and not even a temptation to use that word. I know... and I bet Chapman's son does too.
And while he may be vowing never to use the word again, his son had to out him to the National Enquirer to get that vow. Prior to that, he was telling his son that he couldn't work at the family business or come around the house with his girlfriend because he wanted to be free to be able to use the word without consequence.
The most ironic thing is that this story is breaking and destroying Chapman's career just as they're announcing Don Imus is returning to drive time radio in New York on WABC. Imus was hit with a national backlash when he called a group of black female college athletes "nappy headed hoes". His show was yanked from syndication on 70 radio stations plus MSNBC, but compared to Dog's rant, Imus's quip was a stick of dynamite while Dog went for the full nuclear meltdown.
A&E has suspended production of Dog's show, which is one of their highest rated original series, but have yet to cancel it outright. That's coming soon. If you listen to the recordings at the Enquirer article you're going to be convinced like I am that this guy is off the air for a LOOOONG time.
But here's how it's going to go...
A&E cancels him. He tries to do damage control. He goes into rehab, starts taking sensitivity training, travels the country having heart-to-hearts with civil rights leaders, then once the fury has had time to ebb, he'll start making the rounds of the talk shows, telling how he overcame his racism through prayer and begging the public to accept him as a new man.
By this time, it's too late for A&E to revive his show. I mean, Imus was off the air for 8 months for what he said. Dog's got to lay low for at least 18 months, and then his show has lost all momentum.
So, instead he gets a new reality show on VH1 where he and Flavor Flav (or maybe Michael Vick, another soul in need of public redemption -- and wouldn't it be ironic if he's doing a show with a guy named "Dog") share an apartment for 3 months and learn to be best interracial buddies while the producers base episodes around Flavor taking Dog to a hip hop club and Dog letting Flavor help him apprehend a fugitive. But knowing VH1, Flavor Flav may not be outrageous enough. Dog's roomie could be a half-black, half-latino drag queen.
I'm not trying to be funny here... If it doesn't go like that, I'm going to be shocked. Really. Such is the state of the American culture of celebrity and the American lust for outrageous reality TV.
If Hitler rose from the dead, went on "Oprah" and apologized for what he did, going so far as to break into tears and need a moment to compose himself because he is so haunted by all his victims... Americans would give him a standing ovation. Jews would be saying "It's f***ing Hitler, you idiots!" Then a couple of Jewish C-list celebrities would publicly forgive him because of the HUGE publicity that would come from being the first Jewish celebrities to forgive Hitler. They'd say "the man has suffered decades of infamy. He got past this. Why can't we?"
This isn't a dead Dog, just a whipped one. So long as he follows the well-established formula for celebrity contrition, he'll be back on TV faster than you might expect.
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Sticks and stones may break your bones, but apparently words will destroy your whole damn career!
I guess Dog Chapman isn’t entitled to have a bad day, get upset and say something stupid, or otherwise be a human being.
Let's be honest; we're all capable of such screw-ups. And it's pretty obvious by the fact he was taped in such a sneaky fashion, that it was all a set-up by his no-good son!
But hell, Dog's had it so easy since Mexico tried to extradite him, he was thrown in prison, his daughter was killed, etc. etc. Why not finish the job that Mexico couldn't? Let's back his punk son, and take this man down! Yeah, well forget that!
After all those thousands of captures, all the people he has saved, and all the work he did to become famous and successful, including all the trials he faced in the Year Of The Dog, he's now fighting for his life once again!!
But my question to his detractors is; how many of you people who are condemning him for his ill-thought words, have uttered the very same ones in private? In a private conversation with a family member, as HE thought he was doing! Imagine if YOU had been ILLEGALLY taped without your knowledge?
And the full length version of that damning tape, also has Dog talking about how his son Tucker's girlfriend threatened to attack his wife Beth, and also about her wearing a recorder to try to get something to sell to that rag, the Enquirer!
And instead, it was Tucker who taped and sold his own father out to the tabloid rag! That shows that Dog was right all along, and she is a no good scumbag! Too bad he didn't know the same about his punk-ass son!
I say screw the Enquirer, screw Tucker and his bitch, and let's support Duane "Dog" Chapman!
Countless acts of heroism, good deeds and charity should not be all erased by one incident. Especially when 2 scumbags are invovled in a conspiracy to get you on tape in order to make a fast buck and get some quick revenge, is the reason behind it all!
@NightHunter,
It doesn't matter if the girlfriend was aggressive or if his son taped him illegally. It doesn't matter if he wasn't on his guard. Using that word as a casual label for anyone shows that he disrespects that race... period. Dog proved he was a racist, and no amount of excuses will change that.
As for all the good things he's done. Yup, they don't count. You don't get a freebie for having done good, even if the good was beyond the ordinary good people do. If a doctor cured cancer and then was found to have thousands of kiddie porn pictures and videos on his laptop, would you rationalize it as okay because of all the good he's done?
Furthermore, Dog sought celebrity. He didn't have to go on TV for five seasons. But when he chose to do that, he put himself in the spotlight and agreed to a code of conduct beyond what normal people have to deal with. He mentioned repeatedly that he was afraid of the National Enquirer getting proof of him casually using that word because he'd lose everything.
He knew it was wrong, knew it could cost him everything, and rather than root it out and yank it from his brain like a weed, he tried to ruin his son's relationship so he could keep using it without fear.
He's a real piece of work. And I have no problem with him continuing to apprehend fugitives, but if I have anything to say about it, he's off TV.