Top 5 stories that defined Christian entertainment in 2024
5. Phil Robertson’s health struggles
In December, Phil Robertson’s family revealed the beloved 78-year-old “Duck Dynasty” patriarch is in the “early stages” of Alzheimer’s and battling another blood-related disease that is “causing problems with his entire body.”
“Phil’s not doing well. We were trying to figure out the diagnosis, but according to the doctors, they are sure that he has some sort of blood disease causing all kinds of problems,” Phil’s son, Jase, said on the “Unashamed with the Robertson Family” podcast.
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Phil’s son, Willie, later explained that his father has a “blood disorder,” and “mental issues that could be early [on-set] Alzheimer's … and probably some ministrokes because of his blood.”
"And so, it could be some stroke stuff happening, that has happened. So, we're still checking on all that. But then he also has a back issue, he's fractured his back and that's where the pain’s at. So, he's kind of battling many different things at the same time."
Still, the family patriarch is "as sharp as ever" when it comes to his faith and knowledge of the Bible, according to his son.
"He goes right back to that, and so we find those are things that seem to comfort him," Willie said. "He still quotes the Bible and still talks about his faith in God, so I think that's been comforting and something that he hasn't lost yet.
"He can't speak like he used to and teach his class, and so he’s kind of taking a break from that and his podcast and stuff. But it’s still strong and vital to him, he just can't always make the words and thoughts that I think that he wants to make."
The Robertson household rose to fame through the hit A&E reality show "Duck Dynasty,” which ran from 2012 to 2017. The series chronicled the lives of the Robertsons and their business, Duck Commander, while highlighting the family’s faith and conservative values.
In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Phil Robertson reflected on how, in 2013, he was suspended from “Duck Dynasty” over his candid comments about homosexuality and religion in a GQ profile. He was swiftly condemned as a bigot by LGBT activist groups, including The Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD.
“Five or six years ago, a guy came up and asked me, did I believe homosexual behavior was a sin,” Robertson told CP. “I quoted 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: ‘Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the thieves, the greedy drunks, they won't inherit the Kingdom of God,' Robertson said, citing [Paul's letter] to the church at Corinth. ‘But you've been washed, you've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus,’” he added.
“I just simply quoted him a verse, a Bible verse, where God stated what it is,” he added. “So it took him two weeks to figure out all I did was quote a Bible verse. He asked me a question … and I just quoted [the Bible]. And when I quoted it, he took it and ran with it, because he thought I was just blowing smoke just off the top of my head.”
Though backlash from the secular media was swift, the father, grandfather and great-grandfather noted that as a result of his boldness, “a lot of good came forth.”
“We converted way more after that,” he said. “See what I'm saying? God works in mysterious ways.”
The film “The Blind,” released in 2023, delved into the Duck Commander’s backstory and Phil's struggles with addiction and anger prior to his conversion to Christianity.
Willie previously told CP the family's lives would look drastically different if it weren’t for an Arkansas pastor, who, in the 1970s, drove across state lines to share the Gospel with his father.
“After we came out with ‘The Blind’ last year about Phil and Kay’s life, I thought, ‘What if that hadn't happened? What if that guy didn’t go up there and preach the Gospel out of fear?” Willie reflected.
“Dad had not become a Christian. He'd already kicked us out, so we knew where it was headed. It was heading towards divorce for sure, split up family. When you take that out of the mix, there would have been no Duck Commander, there would have been no company, there would have been no 'Duck Dynasty.' I don't even know if I would be a believer today.”
“Every day of my life, someone has been impacted by what happened 50 years ago,” he continued. “Because of what was able to come out of that, when you start thinking about the television show that reached hundreds of millions of people, still does every day … all the books, the movies, the podcast, all the things that have pointed people in some way to the Gospel, to the light, I can trace all that back.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
