Dog the Bounty Hunter once thought he had a 'pass' to use a racial slur: "Kind of like Eminem..."
Duane Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, is back in the spotlight as an old interview addressing his controversial past has resurfaced. In the interview, Dog was seen justifying his past use of the N-word and racism allegations that have trailed him through the years. The reality star, prior to his wedding to fiancée Francie Frane, sat down for a joint interview that aired just weeks before their September 2021 nuptials. During the sit-down, Dog discussed the backlash he faced for using the N-word and shared his explanation for doing so, calling it a “mistake.” Dog revealed that, years ago, he actually thought he had a “pass” to use the N-word because of his time spent in prison with Black people. He said the word was used loosely around him in prison, and he had assumed that meant he could say it, too.
He even compared his experience to that of rapper Eminem, who also has used the word in his music, saying he felt a similar sense of comradery with the Black community. “I have never been a racist—I’m 33.5 percent Apache—but because of over 15 years ago, I have an Achilles’s heel because I used the wrong word,” Dog said to Entertainment Tonight. Justifying why he used the racist slur, Duane said, “I thought I had a pass in the Black tribe to use it, kind of like Eminem.” He wasted no time in admitting that this excuse was wrong. “I had just gotten out of prison in 1979 after spending 18 months in Texas, and it was probably three-quarters from the Black tribe,” Chapman explained. “So, that was a word that we used back and forth as maybe a compliment. My pass expired for using it, but no one told me that. To say a racist name doesn’t qualify to make you a racist,” he said with regret. The word might have been used freely in prison, he explained, but that didn’t give him license to use it long after he’d gotten out.
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The comments came after his daughter, Bonnie, accused Duane of racism and said she wasn’t invited to his wedding because she was an advocate for social justice, especially the Black Lives Matter movement. Bonnie, who in the past has spoken out about her father’s alleged racist behavior, also expressed disappointment in his actions, calling them a regression into his “old racist ways.” But the controversy over him using the N-word isn’t the only family drama he’s been facing. Bonnie also accused him of having cheated on her late mother, Beth, when she was hospitalized. Duane completely denied the accusation, saying that he was with Beth up until she died in 2019 after her battle with throat cancer.
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Not just this, perhaps most notoriously, there was a very embarrassing controversy in 2007 too, in which Duana, in a leaked private telephone conversation with his son Tucker Chapman was overheard using a racial slur in relation to Tucker’s Black girlfriend. The tape was sold to ‘The National Enquirer’, where it came to light that Dog disapproved of the relationship and was seriously questioning his racist sentiments. Fallout came fast, with A&E immediately and indefinitely taking Dog the Bounty Hunter off the air. In his defense, Duane explained at the time he was frustrated and concerned for his son’s well-being, as his son was on parole for time served in prison.
Dog spoke to the public about his love for Tucker through public statements, even though things between them started to unravel once the tape came out. “He will not talk to me,” Chapman said in an interview with CNN. “His mother’s in on it with him. I have been away from her since the 80s so now she is like getting even,” he added. He claimed he was trying to prevent Tucker from doing something that would get him thrown back in jail again. He said what he was saying wasn’t because his son’s girlfriend was Black, but because he felt she may not be the right kind of influence on Tucker. “I tried to take control of his life (after this),” said Chapman, “I heard this girl was maybe not being the best for Tucker -- and I’ll leave it like that -- so I tried to interfere.”
“I know that all of my fans are deeply disappointed in me, as well, as I have tried to be a model for doing the right thing,” he said. “I did not do the right thing this time, and hope you will forgive me," he said, as per TODAY.
