Of course it was a hoax.

I had been told for months by friends in North Mississippi that it was fake. It was a joint production of the ADL and the Lügenpresse designed to “fight hate” by presenting a caricature of racialists:

“The subjects of a TV documentary series about the Ku Klux Klan abruptly canceled last week by A&E allege to Variety that significant portions of what was filmed were fabricated by the producers. Some KKK leaders divulged that they were paid hundreds of dollars in cash each day of filming to compel them on camera to distort the facts of their lives to fit the documentary’s predetermined narrative: tension between Klan members and relatives of theirs who wanted to get out of the Klan. The findings are based on an exclusive Variety investigation based on interviews with over two dozen individuals in and around the KKK who cooperated with the documentary in at least six U.S. states. Originally scheduled to air Jan. 10, “Escaping the KKK: A Documentary Series Exposing Hate in America” was produced by Venice, Calif.-based production company This Is Just a Test. …”

This is hilarious.

Daryle Lamont Jenkins of One People’s Project was a cast member of the show. Along with Byron Widner, various people were “rescued” from hate. All of it was staged. None of it was real. Widner is a “reformed skinhead” who was paid by the SPLC to remove his tattoos in a 2001 MSNBC documentary called “Erasing Hate.”

“Of the leaders of the four Ku Klux Klan groups featured on the TV series, only one denied receiving payments for his participation. “I was never paid a dime but I wished they did,” said Steve Howard, Imperial Wizard for the North Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, on Dec. 24. But on Dec. 26, Howard lashed out on his Facebook account demanding $100,000 payments from A&E and the film production company for money he said was promised and owed him. “Tomorrow by 11 I start singing. So someone better take care of it. I want lost wages,” wrote Howard. “They can buy me out or I start singing.” Howard took down his Facebook posts less than 24 hours later. …”

Steve Howard is denying he was paid, but he was the one who I was told was fake. I heard that A&E paid for food and cross lightings and was paying locals around Tupelo to pretend to be Klansmen and that Steve Howard would fly in on a plane from Washington State to do his little dance for the cameras. There was a scene at the Tupelo rally where Steve Howard embraced Daryle Lamont Jenkins on camera.