Select Duck Dynasty merchandise have sold out on Walmart's website following the recent controversy between Phil Robertson and A&E.
Duck Dynasty, the most popular cable TV show ever, has an estimated $400 million merchandise empire. Half the sales of this merchandise is said to be from Walmart.
Following the comments made by the 67-year-old family patriarch to GQ magazine, the future of the reality show is in doubt as A&E suspended reacted to his comments by suspending him from the show indefinitely. In response, the Robertson family defended its patriarch, stating that "as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty."
Duck Dynasty merchandise sold at Walmart range from T-shirts to bedding, toys, and more. Although the A&E network owns the Duck Dynasty merchandise, fans have been stocking up from Walmart in support of Phil Robertson. One fan tweetet, "'I better rush off to Walmart and buy up all the Phil Robertson merchandise 'cuz it's gonna be a collectors item one day."
Multiple petitions have been launched online since news of Phil's suspension from the show came to light. Some of the petitions such as "Bring Back Phil Robertson" have garnered nearly 1 million followers on Facebook.
Some politicians have come out to support Phil Robertson. Louisiana Governer Bobby Jindal and former U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin have both jumped to the reality star's defense.
Jindal stated: "The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with."
Palin tweeted, "Free speech is an endangered species: Those 'intolerants' hatin' & taking on Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing personal opinion take on us all."
Phil Robertson was suspended from the show when he told GQ magazine: "Everything is blurred on what's right and what's wrong ... Sin becomes fine. Start with homosexual behaviour and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men...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."
