HGTV cancels new show after hosts revealed to be anti-gay
CBN-TV/Screenshot
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HGTV is axing its new reality show Flip It Forward after the show's hosts were revealed to have a history of spewing anti-gay and anti-abortion vitriol. The program, which was slated to premiere in October, featured twin brothers David and Jason Benham helping families remodel their homes.
Controversy erupted yesterday when Right Wing Watch exposed the twins' father Flip Benham's extremist views (he's the leader of the anti-abortion-clinic protest group Operation Save America). The twins also led a prayer rally at the 2012 Democratic Convention in Charlotte denouncing "abortion on demand" and "demonic ideologies" taught in public schools. That same year, David "compared the fight against marriage to opposition to Nazi Germany," reports Raw Story.
The network announced its decision not to move forward with the Benhams' series on Facebook.
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Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.