![Dog The Bounty Hunter says he thought he had a pass to use the N-word “like Eminem”](./media_16277cc06a960b6118e94384c642b6314de7f1fa6.jpeg?width=750&format=jpeg&optimize=medium)
Duane Chapman, better known as Dog The Bounty Hunter, is addressing allegations that he is a racist.
During an interview with Entertainment Tonight’s (ET) Kevin Frazier, the reality star defended himself against the accusations, which were even made by his own daughter. “I have never been a racist. I’m 33 1/2 percent Apache,” Chapman said on Wednesday (Sept. 1). When Frazier asked the “Dog The Bounty Hunter” star why he used the N-word, he replied, “I thought I had a pass in the Black tribe to use it, kind of like Eminem.”
“I had just gotten out of prison in 1979 after spending 18 months in Texas, and it was probably three-quarters from the Black tribe,” Chapman added. “So, that was a word that we used back and forth as maybe a compliment. My pass expired for using it, but no one told me that. To say a racist name doesn’t qualify to make you a racist.”
Frazier then told Chapman that if he used that word on a regular basis, he was a racist. “I have more Black friends than Eminem,” Chapman replied, to which the ET host responded: “That is the proximity argument. ‘I have lots of Black friends, so that should make me okay with Black people.’“
Chapman previously faced backlash for using the N-word during a phone call with his son that was leaked by the National Enquirer in 2007. During the conversation, he used the racial slur more than six times.
After the call went public, Chapman apologized for using the offensive language, saying that he was deeply disappointed in himself “for speaking out of anger to my son and using such a hateful term in a private phone conversation.”
Due to the backlash, his A&E show was placed on a hiatus, but production resumed the following year. After eight seasons, the show was canceled in 2012.
Check out Dog The Bounty Hunter’s interview below.