GLAAD fires back at A&E over Phil Robertson – ‘Duck Dynasty’ reinstatement, cites profits

The moment that A&E decided to suspend Phil Robertson indefinitely for some comments that he made in a GQ Magazine interview, it was pretty clear that there was going to be a situation where no matter what happened, they were going to anger some people. If they opted to keep the suspension, they would have enraged all of the loyal fans of “Duck Dynasty” as well as many conservatives in the country. Also, they stood to lose tens of millions of dollars that the network routinely makes off of the show. On the flip side, reinstating Phil meant angering many of the equal-rights organizations that supported the network for taking a hard stance on his original comments about homosexuality. (Then again, some of them also felt that the initial ruling was too soft, and he should have instead been fired.)

What is somewhat interesting about the statement that GLAAD made yesterday after the network reinstated Phil was that they focused at first on some of his race-related remarks, before then talking about his comments about sexuality and the Bible:

“Phil Robertson should look African American and gay people in the eyes and hear about the hurtful impact of praising Jim Crow laws and comparing gay people to terrorists. If dialogue with Phil is not part of next steps then A+E has chosen profits over African American and gay people – especially its employees and viewers.”

A&E did say that they will produce a series of public-service announcements about tolerance that will air in the coming months, and that they believe that the family had at least expressed some regret over the way in which Phil’s comments came across.

With all of this being said, and with Phil now available to film the upcoming sixth season, do you think that you will ever watch “Duck Dynasty” again? Has this controversy made an imprint on you? Let us know below.