Escaping the KKK spiked after networked discovered third-party producers gave ‘nominal’ cash payments to Ku Klux Klan members in order to gain some access

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

An upcoming documentary series about the KKK has been canceled after the television network that had commissioned the controversial program discovered producers had paid for access to the show’s subjects.

The eight-part series, due to premiere on 10 January, was canceled by the A&E Network on Saturday, just 24 hours after changing the show’s name following objections from civil rights groups. It was originally titled Generation KKK but was changed on Friday to Escaping the KKK: A Documentary Series Exposing Hate in America.

In a statement, A&E explained that third-party producers were responsible for giving “nominal” cash payments to KKK members in order to gain some access.

“While we stand behind the intent of the series and the seriousness of the content, these payments are a direct violation of A&E’s policies and practices for a documentary,” the network said in a statement. “We have now decided not to move forward with airing this project.”

The network had previously told civil rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Color of Change, that it had not given any payments to “hate group members”.

That turned out to be false, however A&E said in its statement that “we believed that to be the case at the time”.

Since its announcement last Monday, the series had been facing mounting criticism and accusations that a reality show about “high-ranking Klan members and their families” could serve to normalize the hate group.

Last week, Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo launched into the work, tweeting: “The timing of this show angers me the most they are capitalizing on a disgusting wave that Trump started and media is normalizing NOT OK.”

Pompeo followed up:

Ellen Pompeo (@EllenPompeo) So I guess A&E stands for ...we will try to put Anything and Everything on tv... because we are a bunch of desperate pathetic tv execs 👍🏾

But even the name change and a partnership with Color of Change, an African American civil rights organization, was not enough to satisfy deep-seated misgivings about the series.

After its cancellation, series consultant and former Wisconsin hate group member Arno Michaelis commented on Facebook: “Even with the name change, the show was deemed too controversial.”

While “bummed out” by the decision to cancel a show intended to serve as a close look at anti-hate extractors focused on helping people leave the group, Michaelis said he stood by the work the film-makers did during the making of the series.

“I’m more dedicated than ever to cultivate peace in our society and to helping people change their lives for the better,” Michaelis added.



The show followed Steven Howard, the imperial wizard of the North Mississippi White Knights; Chris Buckley, a grand knighthawk with the Georgia White Knights, and Richard Nichols, the grand dragon in the Tennessee Knights of the Invisible Empire.

The series’ producer, Aengus James, said his intention was to show the day-to-day lives of Klan members. “We had a stance, and we were clear with folks that we were hoping for them to see the light and come out of this world,” James told the New York Times earlier this month.

“It’s an incredibly destructive environment for anybody to be in, let alone children.”

Misgivings about the series focused on giving publicity to a group that benefited from additional publicity during the presidential campaign. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump initially wavered when called to reject the group or its espoused values, refusing to immediately condemn it.

In the now-deleted trailers for Escaping the KKK, a Klan wizard says, “I wanna be the next David Duke. I want to see him saying my name at presidential debates,” in a possible reference to Duke’s support of Trump.

Ex-KKK leader and Trump-backer David Duke to run for Senate seat in Louisiana Read more

The group member later explains: “You gotta be 18 years old to join the Klan, but I have the junior Klan and I bring a lot of the young kids in and I teach ’em how to be a Klansman and how to be a great Klanswoman.”

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of KKK chapters more than doubled between 2014 and 2015, from 72 to 190 across the US. The ADL – which consulted on the series – places the group’s current overall membership at 3,000.



When the series was commissioned, A&E’s general manager Rob Sharenow said the series would be an “ugly” but “important” look at the KKK. “It’s quite shocking, but I think that’s important,” he said. “As a broadcaster, I really think the message of anti-hate is important, timeless and moral.”

The cancellation of the series contrasts with A&E’s recent successes with controversial subjects, including Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath; and Born This Way, a series about seven young adults with Down’s syndrome.

But A&E was also the network behind Duck Dynasty, the show about the wealthy southern Robertson family and its controversial patriarch, Phil Robertson, who was later exposed for making homophobic and racist comments.

The cancellation of the show will deny the public the opportunity to review the activities of the far-right movement for themselves. Before that decision was taken, A&E’s Sharenow said he believed it was the network’s obligation to “shine a light on things that aren’t really looked at”.

“We certainly didn’t want the show to be seen as a platform for the views of the KKK,” he told the New York Times. “The only political agenda is that we really do stand against hate.”