Duck Dynasty Anti-Gay Backlash: A&E Parent Walt Disney (DIS) Shares Unaffected
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The backlash being witnessed after A&E suspended Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson for his anti-gay remarks is not being felt in the shares of co-owner The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS). In fact, shares of the entertainment giant are higher to the tune of 1 percent Thursday.
A&E, which is 50% co-owned by Walt Disney in a joint venture with the Hearst Corporation, announced Wednesday that Robertson was being placed on hiatus after an interview in GQ was published. The network has an estimated 100 million subscribers.
"We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson's comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty," A&E said in a statement.
"His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely."
Here is what Robertson said in GQ that has the gay community and A&E in an uproar:
"It seems like, to me, a vagina - as a man - would be more desirable than a man's anus. That's just me. I'm just thinking: There's more there! She's got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I'm saying? But hey, sin: It's not logical, my man. It's just not logical."
Robertson also discussed growing up in pre-civil-rights-era Louisiana:
"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash. We're going across the field.... They're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, 'I tell you what: These doggone white people' -not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."
Former VP candidate and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal voiced support for Robertson.
"Free speech is an endangered species," Palin said in a Facebook post. "Those 'intolerants' hatin' and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us."
Jindal said Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of his state: "Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of the State of Louisiana. The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with. I don't agree with quite a bit of stuff I read in magazine interviews or see on TV. In fact, come to think of it, I find a good bit of it offensive. But I also acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views. In fact, I remember when TV networks believed in the First Amendment. It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended."
A&E, which is 50% co-owned by Walt Disney in a joint venture with the Hearst Corporation, announced Wednesday that Robertson was being placed on hiatus after an interview in GQ was published. The network has an estimated 100 million subscribers.
"We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson's comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty," A&E said in a statement.
"His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely."
Here is what Robertson said in GQ that has the gay community and A&E in an uproar:
"It seems like, to me, a vagina - as a man - would be more desirable than a man's anus. That's just me. I'm just thinking: There's more there! She's got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I'm saying? But hey, sin: It's not logical, my man. It's just not logical."
Robertson also discussed growing up in pre-civil-rights-era Louisiana:
"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash. We're going across the field.... They're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, 'I tell you what: These doggone white people' -not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."
Former VP candidate and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal voiced support for Robertson.
"Free speech is an endangered species," Palin said in a Facebook post. "Those 'intolerants' hatin' and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us."
Jindal said Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of his state: "Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of the State of Louisiana. The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with. I don't agree with quite a bit of stuff I read in magazine interviews or see on TV. In fact, come to think of it, I find a good bit of it offensive. But I also acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views. In fact, I remember when TV networks believed in the First Amendment. It is a messed up situation when Miley Cyrus gets a laugh, and Phil Robertson gets suspended."
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