In the early days of the internet, the History Channel was a place for factual, historical programming. However, that era has passed, and today's network, now just called History, has shifted focus. Here's a look at the most notable scandals to affect the channel.
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00:00In the early days of the Internet, the History Channel was a place for factual, historical programming.
00:05However, that era has passed, and today's network, now just called History, has shifted focus.
00:11Here's a look at the most notable scandals to affect the channel.
00:15The hit show Porn Stars showcases the day-to-day workings of the world-famous gold and silver porn shop in Las Vegas.
00:22But the series has been heavily criticized for stretching the truth.
00:26The shop itself has faced controversy, including accusations of melting down stolen coins worth $50,000, according to ABC News.
00:34However, it seems the real treasure at the porn shop is its stars.
00:39In 2012, HuffPost reported that the stars of the show were sued by their former talent agents,
00:45who claimed they lost $5 million in commissions after the stars switched agencies.
00:50The agency, VentureIAB Inc., accused History Channel executives of intentionally luring the stars to hire a rival agent, Michael Camacho of UTA.
01:00The outcome of the lawsuit is unclear, likely due to it being dismissed or settled out of court.
01:05Then there's fan-favorite Austin Chumlee Russell, who plays the comedic sidekick on the show.
01:10But off-screen, his life is far from humorous.
01:13In 2016, police searched his home as part of an assault investigation.
01:18While they didn't find evidence related to the assault, they uncovered illegal drugs, including marijuana and meth, and firearms.
01:25Despite being charged with multiple felonies, Chumlee avoided jail time through a plea deal, as reported by USA Today and the New York Daily News.
01:34The 2014 miniseries The Bible was a major success for the network, but one casting choice sparked controversy.
01:42Producers cast Moroccan actor Mohamed Ouazani as the Devil, but his striking resemblance to President Barack Obama quickly went viral.
01:49As reported by The Guardian, comparisons flooded social media, with many viewers pointing out the uncanny similarity.
01:56Producer Roma Downey insisted it was purely coincidental, but the internet had already turned it into a viral sensation.
02:04If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you the whole world.
02:12When The Bible was adapted into the feature film Son of God, producers opted to remove Satan from the storyline,
02:19hoping the shift would redirect viewers' focus entirely onto the portrayal of Jesus.
02:24Bigfoot Captured was marketed as a genuine documentary about capturing Sasquatch, but it was entirely fictional, as Paste magazine called it a TV disaster.
02:33Despite its fabricated nature, some viewers took it as truth, sparking outrage over the pseudoscience,
02:40while others celebrated what they believed was actual proof of Bigfoot's existence.
02:44At this point I think Bigfoot's going to become a lot closer to reality.
02:48The channel misled both its audience and guest experts about the show's authenticity.
02:53Professor Jeff Meldrum expressed disappointment in the Idaho State Journal, criticizing the fake evidence and lack of credible sources.
03:00His advice to viewers? To be skeptical and not take the program's claims seriously.
03:05Take what you can from it and have a chuckle over the remainder.
03:09Ice Road Truckers is one of history's most famous reality shows,
03:14showcasing the dangerous work of truckers in freezing parts of Canada and Alaska.
03:19However, the series has faced criticism from trucking outlets like Truck News for inflating or fabricating the risks involved.
03:36In 2013, Ice Road Truckers star Tim Zikor found himself at the center of a serious scandal.
03:43According to CBS, Zikor hired escort Lisa Cadot in Las Vegas,
03:47but became enraged when he claimed she overcharged him by $1,000.
03:51He lured her to his apartment, where he violently beat and imprisoned her in a closet.
03:56Fearing for her safety, Cadot gave Zikor the contact of an undercover officer,
04:00pretending it was a way to settle the ransom demand.
04:03Zikor unknowingly dialed the officer and arranged his own arrest.
04:07The Las Vegas Sun later reported that Zikor admitted he planned to hold Cadot captive and exploit her through Craigslist.
04:14When you picture a lumberjack, you probably imagine a rugged guy in plaid,
04:18cutting down trees, and maybe sporting a wipe-your-butt-on-a-spotted-owl bumper sticker.
04:22You don't usually think of them hauling logs out of water.
04:25Yet, as NPR explains, there was a time when lumberjacks floated felled trees on rafts down rivers.
04:31Occasionally, logs would fall off and sink, staying remarkably preserved in cold water for years.
04:37These sunken trees could later be retrieved, but in Washington state, it's illegal to salvage them.
04:43That didn't stop Axemen star Jimmy Smith, however, who was caught on national TV fishing out these logs,
04:48a move that many saw as either outrageously bold or downright reckless.
04:53I'm the first one in the Northwest to do this type of logging.
04:56Smith's motivation was noble.
04:58He aimed to safeguard river-goers by removing dangerous sunken logs.
05:02He explained,
05:03If I can save one kid or one voter, I think it's worth it.
05:07Swamp People showcases alligator hunters in Louisiana,
05:10but the cast's legal issues often overshadow the reptiles.
05:14TMZ reported that stars R.J. and J. Paul Molinere were arrested for assaulting a man with a beer bottle.
05:21Trapper Joe faced charges for burning his girlfriend with a cigarette and punching her.
05:26Additionally, Screen Rant covered an incident involving Roger Rivers Jr.,
05:30who was arrested for selling illegal meat.
05:32We like it all. We eat everything down here.
05:35Further adding to the show's troubled reputation,
05:38the troubled cast of Swamp People faced a shake-up before Season 7,
05:42with many members unexpectedly fired, according to Starcasm.
05:46Fans were left stunned, and several cast members vented their frustrations on social media.
05:51Despite the backlash, producers stuck to their decision,
05:54introducing a fresh group of swamp dwellers.
05:56The History Channel once claimed to have solved Amelia Earhart's mystery,
06:00but their key evidence was quickly debunked by a blogger.
06:03When you hear the name Amelia Earhart, it's a question mark that's never been solved.
06:08The History Channel's documentary, Amelia Earhart.
06:11The lost evidence sparked brief excitement with its claim
06:14that Earhart and her navigator survived their 1937 disappearance.
06:19Earhart was allegedly living in the Marshall Islands while the US government covered it up.
06:23However, the theory quickly unraveled.
06:25Blogger Kota Yamano investigated the photo's origins
06:28and discovered it was published in a 1935 Japanese coffee table book,
06:32two years before Earhart's ill-fated flight.
06:35Even if the image did show Earhart, which it didn't,
06:38it wouldn't support the claim of her survival.
06:41The documentary's claims were quickly debunked,
06:43leaving the network's discovery in tatters.
06:46History's Mountain Men showcases individuals living as if in the 17th century
06:51until they secretly watch TV when the cameras aren't around.
06:55To me, there's way too much overdevelopment in this world
06:58and I want to do at least my part in keeping some of it wild.
07:02Eustace Conway, one of the show's stars,
07:05prides himself on teaching self-sufficiency
07:07while also embracing an air of superiority about his off-the-grid lifestyle.
07:12His biography highlights this distinctive, pretentious approach to survival.
07:16Like Thoreau, Eustace has gone to the woods to live deliberately,
07:20fronting only the essential facts of life
07:22to see if he could not learn what it had to teach
07:25and not, when he came to die, discover that he had not lived.
07:28Eustace Conway certainly knows how to project an air of superiority.
07:32When he's not showcasing his survivalist attitude on Mountain Men,
07:35he operates a 1,000-acre wildlife preserve in North Carolina.
07:40There, he charges $700 a week for wilderness training
07:44or $65 for a horse-drawn carriage ride.
07:47However, his preserve recently attracted unwanted attention.
07:51According to the Wall Street Journal,
07:53health, fire and construction officials raided the property
07:56and found several buildings deemed unfit for public use.
08:00The History Channel once found itself in hot water
08:03over a $30 million mini-series about the Kennedys.
08:06After a leaked draft sparked outrage among the family's supporters,
08:09the network canceled the project.
08:11Despite months of production and rewrites,
08:13the show was criticized for containing
08:15numerous inaccuracies and defamatory content,
08:18leading to its abrupt pull,
08:20as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
08:22They made it sound like I like Hitler.
08:25Said I was anti-American. Me!
08:27Joel Surnow, the series' co-creator,
08:30defended the project by suggesting that his conservative views
08:33led to bias against him, according to The Atlantic.
08:36Some conspiracy theorists claimed the Kennedy family
08:38pressured The History Channel to cancel it.
08:40However, when the mini-series aired elsewhere,
08:43The Hollywood Reporter described it as
08:45dull, unwatchable and a ham-fisted mess.
08:48Alone takes the survival concept to the next level
08:51by isolating contestants in remote wilderness,
08:54tracking their struggle to survive independently.
08:57Fortunately, unlike some other extreme reality shows,
09:00the participants keep their clothes on throughout the ordeal.
09:07I'm bored.
09:08The absurd part of Alone is how it portrays contestants
09:11as completely isolated,
09:13yet they're surrounded by camera crews at all times.
09:16It's hard to call it Alone
09:18when there's a whole production team right there.
09:20One thing that's very interesting
09:22about how the show was shot
09:24is that it's all self-documented.
09:26While the show makes it seem like
09:28contestants are deep in the wilderness,
09:30E! Celebrity reports that they're
09:32often much closer to civilization than portrayed.
09:35Many participants are within an hour's walk from town
09:38or on paths that suggest they aren't
09:40truly as isolated as viewers might think.
09:42Variety reports that Hunting Hitler
09:44angered many by downplaying
09:46the significance of Hitler's actions
09:48and promoting unfounded conspiracy theories
09:50regarding his escape to Argentina.
09:52If this were really a picture of Hitler,
09:54it would change history.
09:55Even more troubling was The History Channel's
09:57breach of trust, as they promised a
09:59key source anonymity,
10:01but then broadcast his face to over 180 countries,
10:04betraying that assurance.
10:06The team arrives at a private home
10:08where the informant, along with his translator,
10:10Philippe, has arranged to meet them
10:12under the condition that his identity be protected.
10:14According to the New York Daily News,
10:16a Nazi war criminal's grandson
10:18agreed to participate in the program
10:20under the condition that his face
10:22would remain hidden.
10:23While most of the footage blurred his face,
10:25one shot clearly revealed it,
10:27creating a major problem for someone
10:29hoping to keep their family's dark past private.