A&E announced on Friday that the suspended Phil Robertson would be returning to work for Duck Dynasty after all.
The network released a statement confirming the Robertson patriarch's return to the show, reports E! News. "After discussions with the Robertson family, as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups, A&E has decided to resume filming Duck Dynasty later this spring with the entire Robertson family."
The upcoming fifth season was nearly finished with filming before Robertson's interview with GQ magazine was released. Duck Dynasty is set to premiere Jan. 15.
The statement also notes that A&E recognizes that Robertson has repeatedly said that his comments were not meant to "incite or encourage hate," but that they were merely his personal beliefs, according to Fox News. A&E said that the popular program was not "about one man's views."
The about face from A&E isn't particularly surprising if you think about the massive amount of support that has sided with Robertson after he made his anti-gay remarks to GQ. The most recent support came from Alabama Sen. Jerry Fielding, who said he had planned on introducing a resolution in the state senate that would have been symbolically supportive of Robertson.
Other support of Robertson included the IStandWithPhil petition that has since garnered over 250,000 signatures since it was launched.
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