This doesn't come as much of a surprise, really, but I guess it was worth a press release anyway so that people could know when to change the channel or something. According to Time, Fox News has invited Duck Dynasty pair Willie Robertson and Korie Robertson to their New Year's Eve special, All-American New Year, which is set to air live from Times Square in NYC tonight, and be hosted by network fixtures Bill Hemmer and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
It's no secret why the couple was asked to be on the show — Duck Dynasty may have some of the highest ratings a reality show on cable has ever seen, but, in recent weeks, it's become more known for anti-gay and racist controversy surrounding some comments that the reality show's family patriarch, Phil Robertson, spouted in an interview with GQ 's Drew Magary. Anti-gay comments like:
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.
And racist comments, like:
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.
And let's not forget that one time he said in a speech that women should be married off at "15 or 16" because they're easier for the men to control, that way:
Mainly because these boys are waiting until they get to be about 20 years old before they marry 'em. Look, you wait until they get to be 20 years old, the only picking that's going to take place is your pocket...you got to marry these girls when they are about 15 or 16. They'll pick your ducks.
Though Phil was suspended from the series for a whopping nine days before A&E promptly reinstated him because the show's mostly conservative fans — including those at Fox News who claimed that he was only exercising his freedom of speech — began to threaten boycotting of the series. Funny how the Dixie Chicks didn't get that same argument when they were shunned by the very same people for talking shit about President George W. Bush...
Anyway, with Phil back on the series, it's not even a question that Willie and Korie are being brought on the New Year's Eve show to talk about the controversy surrounding the series, and possibly talk more about freedom of speech and stuff. The couple will appear live on the show via satellite, from Steamboat Springs, Co.
Fox News' All-American New Year's Eve will air on Fox News between 9 p.m. ET and 12:30 a.m. ET Tuesday night. If you're planning to stay home tonight and flip channels on NYE, here's a list of all the specials you can expect to be airing as we ring in 2014.
