A&E drops 'Bounty Hunter' over racism row

A&E has dropped Dog the Bounty Hunter "for the foreseeable future" after its star was recorded using racist abuse.

Press in the US released the recording of a phone conversation between Duane "Dog" Chapman and his son. In it Chapman urges his son to leave his black girlfriend and calls her the 'n' word six times in 45 seconds.

The host has apologised and said he was ashamed and that he was "disappointed" with his son's choice of girlfriend "not due to her race, but her character". He also said the comments were out of context in the released recording.

However, on Thursday A&E announced it was putting production of the fifth series of the show on hold. And on Friday the channel announced it was also suspending repeats.

Advertisers apparently started pulling out of the show prompting A&E to replace the 7-11pm repeats on Saturday with Dallas Swat and The First 48.

The show's regular Tuesday 8-10pm slot will be filled with CSI: Miami repeats.

A&E said in a statement: "We hope that Mr Chapman continues the healing process that he has begun." It hopes people will forgive him and the show can go back on air.

Dog is one of the channel's most popular shows with an average audience of more than 2 million.