Television network A&E has cancelled a documentary on the Ku Klux Klan after it was revealed that money was paid to some of the participants, The Independent reported.
The eight-part series, which followed three high-ranking KKK members and their families in the South, was supposed to air starting on Jan. 10.
But A&E explained on its website that it will not show the series. "While we stand behind the intent of the series and the seriousness of the content, these payments are a direct violation of A&E's policies and practices for a documentary."
A&E said it learned only at the last minute "from the third-party producers who made the documentary that cash payments… were made in the field to some participants to facilitate access."
The series, which was a year-and-a-half in the making, had recently changed its title from "Generation KKK" to "Escaping the KKK: A Documentary Series Exposing Hate in America" after critics said it would help promote the hate group, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A&E General Manager Rob Sharenow told The New York Times: "We certainly didn't want the show to be seen as a platform for the views of the KKK. The only political agenda is that we really do stand against hate."
The series tried to tread a delicate balancing act by following members of the racist group at the unvarnished grassroots level while at the same time showing anti-hate activists as they attempted to persuade members to leave the Klan, or at least not to involve their children in the group.
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