Alex Carson
The Discovery Channel
Discovery Communications owns the Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet. These channels are supposed to be about discovery and learning, but instead, the shows on these networks are riddled with scandal. It seems like the Discovery Channel is a magnet for convicted criminals, which often leads to the cancellation of the show in question. Many of these are obvious, but some aren’t. Here are 20 scandals the Discovery Channel tried to hide from viewers.
The Star of Man vs. Wild Was Fired
Bear Grylls was the star of Man vs. Wild, and he did some pretty outrageous things to survive in the wild. He even went as far as drinking his own pee to survive. Bear was only interested in filming his show, so when the network asked him to participate in two upcoming projects, he refused. Rather than letting his stick to the show that made him famous and had high ratings, the network decided to fire him. His show was on the air for six seasons, and Barack Obama was featured on one of his episodes before he got the ax.
The Alaskan Bush People Aren’t Even Alaskan
Of all the Discovery Channel’s shows, Alaskan Bush People are the most controversial. Many people wonder if the show is actually even real. It turns out that the family isn’t Alaskan, and their former home was located just 10 miles away from the center of town. Most of the family members, Billy, Bear, Bam Bam, Noah, Matthew, and Gabriel, were all issued citations for making false statements when applying for their hunting and fishing licenses. They claim to have been born and raised in the wild, but they really lived in Colorado and Texas. They didn’t get their licenses until they moved to Alaska in 2012.
The Alaskan Bush People Lies Continue
As if not being Alaskan wasn’t a big enough lie, Billy Brown and Joshua “Bam-Bam” Brown lied again, and this time it landed them both in hot water. The state of Alaska has a fund called the Alaskan Permanent Fund Division, which gives residents thousands of dollars for being full-time residents. The two Brown men lied about living in Alaska, and they were given money. Over seven years, Billy admits to receiving $7,956, and Bam-Bam collected $1,174. They were both sentenced to 30-days in jail.
American Guns Cancellation
The Discovery Channel took advantage of America’s firearms obsession when they debuted the show, American Guns. The show revolved around the Wyatt family, who owned a custom gun shop called Gunsmoke Guns in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The last episode aired in 2012. Despite the fact that both seasons had good ratings, the show was canceled. Many people believe that it was canceled because of the Sandy Hook tragedy that took place in Connecticut. In 2012, a 20-year-old man named Adam Lanza shot his mother before taking her car and shooting up an elementary school. Teachers and students as young as six were killed. The Discovery Channel insists that they didn’t cancel the plug because of the shootings. They claim that they just didn’t want to renew the show or show any reruns.
Gunsmoke Guns Was Burglarized After American Guns’ Cancellation
Shortly after American Guns was canceled, Gunsmoke Guns was burglarized. On February 27, 2013, a thief broke into the shop by cutting a hole in the roof. The cops weren’t sure if the perpetrator acted alone or with someone else, but they managed to make off with 12 handguns and 13 rifles. This was the first round of bad luck for the family, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Richard Wyatt Never Had a Gun License
While the family was filming American Guns in 2012, Wyatt lost his Federal Firearms License for violating federal laws and regulations, although it was never specified which laws were actually violated. This made it illegal for him to sell guns. Despite the fact that he didn’t have a license, he continued selling weapons through a straw Federal Firearms license that belonged to someone else. The man who helped Wyatt was accused of changing the address of a store called, Triggers, to the address of Gunsmoke, even though he didn’t own Triggers. When a customer bought a gun at Gunsmoke, they went to Triggers to fill out the paperwork. The man and Wyatt thought that this was a loophole, but they were indicted in 2016 for conspiring to sell guns without a license.
Richard Wyatt Failed To Report $1.1 Million Of Personal Income
After the cancellation of American Guns, the hits kept coming for Richard Wyatt. Nine days after the gun shop was robbed, IRS agents raided the store as part of an ongoing investigation into tax evasion. The investigation began in 2010 when an agent for the ATF heard that Richard was in possession of six fully automatic weapons. When they looked closely into the shop’s records, something wasn’t adding up. Richard was arrested for failing to report $1.1 million in personal income between 2009 and 2012. He was also charged with filing false tax returns. He was found guilty of 10 felony charges, including one count of conspiracy to deal firearms without a license, and nine charges of tax fraud and evasion.
American Guns Often Dealt With Pawn-Happy Criminals
As if there wasn’t enough going on with the Wyatt family, Richard Wyatt also contributed to the sale of a stolen firearm. In the last episode of Season 1, a man named Wylie Newton tried to sell an antique Colt Pistol to the store. It was worth $20,000. The gun had been stolen from a private New Mexico Museum, and Wylie almost got away with it. Fortunately, someone spotted the gun on TV and called the police. Wylie was arrested and charged with the theft. The scandals revolving around this family just keep coming.
Kris Ford and Stephanie Hayden From Sons Of Guns’ Were Arrested
The Hayden family couldn’t keep themselves out of trouble, which led to the whole family doing time. Stephanie Hayden’s father was arrested and imprisoned for some pretty heinous crimes, then his daughter followed in his footsteps. She and her husband, Kris Ford, were arrested for cruelty to a juvenile. Kris hit their 9-year-old so hard with a belt that he had bruises on his backside. He was arrested, and when the boy admitted that his mother was in the room when the abuse took place, she was arrested as well.
Cody Lundin Insisted That His Dual Survival Co-Host Tried To Kill Him
Cody Lundin and Joe Teti were the two stars of Duel Survival, but they apparently didn’t get along. He filed a lawsuit against the network claiming that Joe tried to kill him while they were filming. He claims that the producers wanted to make it look like he was losing his mind, but in reality, Joe was waving an ice ax around threatening to buy him on a mountain in Norway. Cody says that this was the second time that Joe threatened to kill him. The first time was in Hawaii, and Joe threatened to impale him with a spear while they were filming in Hawaii. He also claims that Joe showed him pictures of people he killed while in the CIA.
Naked And Afraid Crew Members Help the Contestants
The premise of the show has a man and a woman who are sent in the wilderness to survive for 21 days with no clothes. They are each given one survival item, and they have to make it out there on their own. According to a female contestant, she got sick after eating a turtle, and the crew gave her bread, rice, beans, and baby food. She also received an IV drip so that she wouldn’t become dehydrated. Since the woman needed this care to save her life, most people believe that the show wasn’t being dishonest. At the beginning of the show, viewers are told the crew will interfere in life and death situations, and the woman’s condition was considered life and death.
Naked And Afraid Contestant Makes Claims About the Validity of the Show
In season 3, Honora Bowen competed along with Matt Struzel in Brazil. Matt completed the challenge, but Honora tapped out. After returning home, she took to her blog to complain about the show. She claims to have been coerced to start an argument with Matt to make things more dramatic. She also claims that the producers coached her to make statements about her background and also to make untrue claims about her father. And she ended up tapping out due to heat exhaustion, but she claims that the heat wasn’t the problem. She says that she had a bladder issue, but the producers refused to let her leave after she asked several times. She says that she faked the heat issue to be able to leave finally.
Counting Cars
In 2012, a spin-off of Pawn Star called Counting Cars premiered. The show followed the stars buying, selling, and customizing unique cars at Count’s Kustoms auto shop. The car expert from Pawn Stars, Danny Koker is very knowledgeable when it comes to cars, which helped him land his own show. Unfortunately, the people who visited the shop weren’t impressed at all. Many complained about the shop’s sketchy location, and some complained that the merchandise was overpriced. Most of the people were underwhelmed. These poor reviews caused the producers to cancel the show.
American Pickers Don’t Just Happen To Fin Treasure
Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz from American Pickers search the country, hoping to find discarded items that turn out to be treasure. Along with their store manager, Danielle, they find people who have junk for them to pick through. The show makes it seem that Danielle finds the people they will visit, and the two men show up unexpectedly to go through their things. This isn’t exactly the way it works. The producers are sent collections from collectors, and they sort through everything to choose what is best. Only then to the two stars of the show examine the items. Frank and Mike aren’t as lucky as they appear to be.
Pre-Selected Experts
If you have ever watched Pawn Stars, you know that Rick Harrison seems to have a friend who is an expert for just about everything. He actually doesn’t know the experts he meets. The producers find the experts, and they bring them to the show. In most cases, Rick has never met the experts that he deals with until they show up at the location.
American Restoration Isn’t As Skilled As You Think
American Restorations is a Pawn Stars spin-off. The show follows the team while they restore old items back to their former glory. Unfortunately, they aren’t as good at restorations as the show makes it seem. During one episode, the crew was restoring a go-kart. A fan noticed that the wheels on the cart were crooked, which caused them to wobble. For the enormous amount of money that they charge to restore items, you would expect them to be better at it.
The Cast Of Pawn Stars Don’t Work There
Pawn Stars follows Rick, Chum Lee, and Old Man as they work at their pawn shop. Before the cameras began following them around, they worked at the shop every day. When the show became popular, things changed. When they were at the shop after the show became popular, it became impossible for them to get things done. Because of this, the men only went to the shop when they were filming.
The Bickering On American Pickers Is Fake
We already know that Mike and Frank don’t find the items that they buy on their own. The producers set it up. The producers also work with the seller to determine a price. When you see the men bickering with the seller on the show, it is fake. The men go into the sale, knowing already how much money they are going to get for the item. This is done to add a bit of drama to each episode.
Eaten Alive
For weeks, the show eaten Alive claimed that Paul Rosolie would be eaten alive by a giant anaconda. When it came time for this to happen, the snake ate only his head, and he then he was rescued by the crew. They claimed that the snake was going to break Paul’s arm, and they had no choice. It was a huge let down for the fans, and it makes the network look bad. They also had to deal with PETA after the airing of the show.
