Duck Dynasty returns tomorrow! Now, if you live under a rock and haven’t heard any of the Phil Robertson controversy here’s a recap:
By Bret Walts
- Phil Robertson was suspended from A&E after comments he made about homosexuality in correspondence with his Christian beliefs.
- Cracker Barrel removed Phil Robertson Duck Dynasty merchandise from their restaurants, however, after yet again more social media outrage and the potential boycott of the restaurant altogether, Cracker Barrel issued an apology and put the goods back on the shelf.
- After outrage over social media and a large group of support for Phil Robertson along with the fact the rest of the family would not continue the show without their “patriarch at the helm”, A&E reinstated Robertson to filming with Duck Dynasty.
- This isn’t the first dispute between A&E and Phil Robertson; Robertson confronted the producers about telling the family to not say, “in Jesus’ name we pray” before the “Amen” in a prayer.
The controversy brought about a bigger situation such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion among other things. However, how will all of this affect the ratings of the new season of Duck Dynasty? Will the Robertsons have any more support from Christians and freedom of speech activists? Or, will the overall controversy cause a drop in viewership?
According to The Hollywood Reporter Duck Dynasty averaged around 9.4 million viewers in its fourth season.
Be sure to check out our twitter at @NAHS_Blotter on Friday to see if Duck Dynasty’s ratings were a big hit or a big miss and also tweet us your thoughts of Phil Robertson’s comments. Do you agree with him? Disagree? Do you think A&E was justified to suspend him?