'Dog' breaks down on TV talk show

Duane Chapman has broken down in tears on a US talk show as he denied claims that he is racist.

The Dog the Bounty Hunter star admitted that he "went too far" by using the 'n' word six times while he tried to persuade his son to dump his girlfriend in a private telephone conversation.

He told the Hannity & Colmes show: "There's a special connection that I thought I had between me and black America. And I used to say, 'I'm black, too. In other words, my whole life I've been called a half-breed, a convict, king of the trailer trash, this and that… so when I stood there and said, 'I kind of know what you feel like, because I've been there, too,' that I felt that I could embrace and like, as brothers… say the word.

"I now learned I'm not black at all, and I never did it out of hate. This sounds so stupid. I always did it out of love. Other white guys would be like, 'Boy, who does Dog think he is? Dog can say that'. And black guys would be with me and walk with me and respect me."

He concluded: "So, I went too far with that."

The A&E network has dropped Chapman's show "for the foreseeable future" over the incident.