@woiyo,
Quote:Maybe A&E should have given Robertson a list of things that were acceptable for him to say during a conversation with a magazine.
Actually, an A & E representative was sitting next to Robertson during the GQ interview.
I don't think A & E really cares what he says. They just don't want to be seen as endorsing any of it.
Quote:What did they expect from them? A&E is showing their hypocrisy to satisfy political "correctness".
I don't think this about "political correctness". They probably really don't agree with Robertson, not just about gays, but his odd-ball views about blacks, why the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, etc. And there's still more to come--the GQ interview also included his views on health insurance and the separation of church and state, which we haven't heard yet.
From A & E's standpoint, I don't think this has anything to do with the specific content of anything Robertson said to GQ. I think they don't expect, or want, any serious controversy from the duck clan. They want them to be somewhat goofy, and odd, and just do their shtick of being multi-millionaires who live like just plain folks in rural backwater Louisiana, and who spend their time horsing around with each other, running a business with seemingly minimal effort and loads of free time, and reflecting their love of family, and the "simple life" of living off the land.
They don't want them actually stirring up real life contentious issues that expose the deep divides in the country, with people heatedly taking sides, and politicians and civil rights groups jumping in to express outrage of all kinds, or in fact, doing anything that puts A & E in the middle of that sort of unwanted controversy. They hired these people to do their millionaire redneck shtick, and that just doesn't include getting their employer involved in this sort of sticky wicket. A & E really doesn't want to be in the middle, they just want to keep running a very profitable show without having to side with anyone.
So that's why A & E really isn't doing much of anything. Their integrity really isn't at stake. They aren't endorsing anything about this family, they are simply putting them on display, mostly in fluff situations, and letting people observe them and decide for themselves. And, within the confines of a somewhat contrived and scripted "reality" show, that simulates spontaneity, and touches on no real controversy, a lot of people enjoy watching these folk, for whatever the reason. And A & E has no real reason to tamper with that--they've got a hit, and a moneymaker, and they want to keep it that way.
And the Robertsons want this platform and show, it's what's helping their business empire to thrive and expand, and that's why they keep signing their contracts, and they aren't going to toss that all away, or louse it up. They've got a moneymaker, and they want to keep it that way. These people aren't fools, and no one is actually telling them how to live or think, and they know they have no God-given right to a TV reality show. They won't blow this deal either.
So, while everyone else is busy making noise, and taking sides, and generating loads of free publicity, and buying tons of Duck Dynasty merchandise, that makes both the Robertsons and A & E happy and richer, the two parties will likely continue doing business as usual. The new season is starting, and another one might follow that if both parties still find it profitable.
This is all about MONEY, it has nothing to do with free speech, or religious freedom, or social issues, or "integrity". These two parties are involved in a business relationship, and one is the employer and the other isn't. And, as is the case in most business relationships, if you want to keep your employer happy, you don't give them reason to fire you. And, so far, the Robertsons have no reason to quit, they have a show that's like an infomercial for their brand.
So, A & E isn't going to do anything, except start running the new season of Duck Dynasty in a few weeks, let the noise die down, and then decide if they want to go with yet another season.
Phil Robertson is just acting like Phil Robertson, and, he's still being in character for what his reality show expects him to be--someone who is clearly out of the mainstream, and rather iconoclastic.
A & E has no more reason to dump Robertson for his GQ remarks, or his comments elsewhere, than MTV had to dump Snooki, of Jersey Shore "fame" when she got herself arrested for being drunk and disorderly on a beach.
Snooki was behaving exactly the way she was expected to behave, she wasn't destroying anyone's image of her. And the same is true of Phil Robertson.
And people don't expect either Snooki or Robertson to necessarily conform to anyone's idea of what's right, or appropriate, or acceptable. If they did that, their reality shows wouldn't have much interest.
And I'd put the importance of their comments, about anything, in exactly the same class in terms of social importance.
