Cancel culture pioneer Phil Robertson on ‘Duck Dynasty’ downfall: ‘No regrets’
Phil Robertson was canceled before it was “cool.”
The “Duck Dynasty” star might have become the first ever “canceled” celebrity after notoriously getting suspended and reinstated from the A&E hunting show in 2013 over alleged homophobic comments. Now, nearly 10 years on, the “uncancelable” 75-year-old reality TV star says he doesn’t regret the remarks, and claims he wishes cancel culture “sinners” would quit “accusing each other.”
Robertson dropped the feather-ruffling remarks while hyping the Tuesday release of his new book, “Uncanceled: Finding Meaning and Peace in a Culture of Accusations, Shame, and Condemnation,” which argues how Christianity is the perfect antidote to cancel culture.
“We’re all guilty of sin. We all make mistakes,” the Louisiana native told Fox News digital. “Therefore, you have no excuse to pass judgment on someone else.”
The “Duck Commander” founder was addressing the backlash following his infamous 2013 interview with GQ, in which Robertson railed against the LGBTQ community.
Speaking on what he deemed sinful, the duck whistle whiz had responded, “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there: Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.”
The self-proclaimed Bible-thumper then went on to paraphrase Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”
The remarks sparked an outcry from GLAAD and other LGBTQ organizations and resulted in Robertson getting “indefinitely suspended” from “Duck Dynasty.” However, he was subsequently reinstated following an uproar from his defenders, who accused A&E of censorship.
Robertson described the episode as such: “After nine days they reinstated me, but we had all kinds of sponsors that just took off. They had made a mockery of what I said.”
“All I did was quote a Bible verse,” he proclaimed. “And as a result, they tried to cancel me. But it didn’t cancel me at all.”
Despite the backlash, the backwoods businessman said he has “no regrets at all” for what he said.
“I quoted a Bible verse that dealt with homosexual behavior,” insisted the unrepentant Robertson. “I didn’t dream it off the top of my head. It didn’t go any further than that.”
The duck hunter added that he’s turning the other cheek to his cancellation critics because the “Bible teaches us to love thy neighbor even with their mistakes.”
In fact, the hunting gear honcho even views his “DD” excommunication as a feather in the cap as Jesus Christ was also canceled in his time.
“The Apostle Paul told Timothy that whoever lives a godly life in Christ will be persecuted,” rationalized Robertson of his reality TV crucifixion. “We take persecution as a badge of honor. It doesn’t bother us at all.”
He also told Fox News, “Instead, we focus on telling others about Jesus and keep moving.”
The father of five says he ultimately thinks that cancel culture has “gone too far.”
“The people that fuel cancel culture just want to find your mistakes and elevate them.” Robertson argued. “That’s what people do. They find a mistake you made when you were 18 years old or something you said on the internet long ago.”
He added that this witch hunting habit is especially hypocritical as “we all make mistakes.”
He continued, “You have no excuse to pass judgment on someone else. You’re condemning yourself by passing judgment on others. Do you think you’ll escape God’s judgment? In a culture of accusations, shame and condemnation, I’m just trying to speak out about the word of God … Just forgive each other and move on for crying out loud.”
Robertson is most famous for founding Duck Commander, his family’s multimillion-dollar duck hunting accessory enterprise that inspired “Duck Dynasty.” The series ended in 2017 after 11 seasons.
