The season 5 premiere of A&E's "Duck Dynasty" saw 3 million less viewers than last season's, making many wonder if Phil Robertson's controversial remarks on homosexuality and race are to blame, E! Online reported.
Though the recent premiere received a steady 8.5 million viewers, the premiere of season 4 in August pulled in 11.8 million viewers, demonstrating a 28 percent loss. According to Deadline, the key 18-49 demographic saw a 33 percent drop.
In an interview with GQ magazine in December, Robertson made statements that erupted a discussion about free speech, homophobia, and racism.
"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," he told the magazine. He then paraphrased the Corinthians, saying "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."
Robertson also suggested black people never complained about being mistreated in the south during the civil rights era.
"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once," he told GQ. "Where we loved was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hooed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash. I never heard one of them, one black person, say 'I tell you what: These doggone white people' - not a word!"
Shortly after the magazine report ignited a media storm over the show's cast, A&E decided to "indefinitely" suspend Robertson from the show, to which the rest of the family responded by saying they would not continue without him.
While many dedicated fans and conservative lawmakers expressed their support for the Robertsons, organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and the NAACP vehemently criticized the comments, chiding the "blatant misinformation" the show seemed to promote.
