Bounty Hunter’s Son Taped Duane Chapman’s Call And Sold It To Tabloid
Posted November 2, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
We now know who taped a private phone conversation between a celebrity bounty hunter and his son that threatens Duane “Dog” Chapman’s television career. It was his own offspring that set the trap and he fell right into it.
As we told you on Thursday, Chapman was caught on tape during a private conversation with his son, Tucker, repeatedly using the “N” word, as he tried to tell him he didn’t like his new girlfriend – who is black. “It’s not because she’s black,” he’s heard saying. “It’s because we use the word n***** sometimes here. I’m not going to take a chance ever in life to lose everything I’ve worked for because some f***ing n***** heard us say n***** and turned us into the magazine. Our career is over.”
The younger Chapman was apparently so incensed by his father’s tirade and his opposition to his relationship that he decided to tape the call.
He then sold it to the National Enquirer tabloid for what’s reported to be “a lot of money,” according to his father’s lawyer. “I guess because of whatever level of anger he had of his father, he felt the need to express it in that manner,” attorney Brook Hart explains.
The tape was posted on the Enquirer’s website ( you can hear the uncensored version here, but listener discretion is advised) and the fallout was immediate. The cable network that airs the top rated “Dog The Bounty Hunter” immediately suspended production on the show, pending further investigation.
And the elder Chapman spent the entire day Thursday apologizing for his actions, claiming his statements were taken out of context and from a private conversation not meant for other ears. “I have never seen anything that suggests he judges people by the color of their skin or racial background or anything but on their character,” Hart contends. “Duane lost his composure and made very, very inappropriate remarks, for which he truly regrets.”
It’s not clear when the show will return but the network involved insists it’s not cancelled.
