Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson has died at the age of 79.
In an emotional Instagram post, Phil’s son, Willie Robertson, and his daughter-in-law, Korie Robertson, confirmed his death on May 25.
“We celebrate today that our father, husband, and grandfather, Phil Robertson, is now with the Lord,” the couple wrote. “He reminded us often of the words of Paul, ‘You do not grieve like those who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.’”
“Thank you for the love and prayers of so many whose lives have been impacted by his life saved by grace, by his bold faith, and by his desire to tell everyone who would listen (to) the Good News of Jesus. We are grateful for his life on earth and will continue the legacy of love for God and love for others until we see him again,” the post concluded.
A cause of death was not immediately shared. The reality TV star’s family previously shared in December that Phil was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Phil’s son, Jase Robertson, posted a tribute to his father on X, writing, “My dad has gone to be with the Lord today! He will be missed and we know he is in good hands, and our family is good because God is very good! We will see him again.”
Phil’s granddaughter, Sadie Robertson Huff, shared a post on Instagram with a series of photos of her grandfather.
“As I was sitting with Papaw Phil today, I thought about this verse … he has already experienced this on earth — going from dead to alive by the power of Christ! It was his testimony that changed his life, our families life, and thousands of others,” she wrote.
“Now he is experiencing it in the fullness. Fully alive in Christ. The new has come. One of the last things he said to me was ‘full strength ahead!’ Amen,” Robertson Huff added.
The official Instagram account for Duck Dynasty also shared a statement after news of Phil’s death spread.
“We are saddened to hear of the passing of Phil Robertson, a hunting industry pioneer and the patriarch of the beloved Robertson family. Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time. We extend our deepest condolences and respect their privacy as they grieve,” the statement read.
Jase shared that the patriarch was diagnosed with the “early stages” of Alzheimer’s disease on a Dec. 6 episode of the Unashamed with the Robertson Family podcast.
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“Phil’s not doing well. I think I spoke on the 1000th podcast. We were trying to figure out the diagnosis, but according to the doctors, they are sure that he has some sort of blood disease causing all kinds of problems,” he said at the time.
Jase said that the disease had “accelerated, and it’s causing problems with his entire body.”
“And he has early stages of Alzheimer’s. So, if you put those things together, he’s just not doing well. He’s really struggling,” Jase added.
He told fans of the family that his father wanted to return to work.
“I’m like, ‘Well Phil, you can barely walk around without crying out in pain, and your memory is not what it once was.’ He’s like, ‘Tell me about it.’ So he is literally unable to — I think he would agree — to just sit down and have a conversation,” he said.
“We’re trying to do a lot of things to figure out how to make him more comfortable and maybe help with his memory,” Jase added.
“We’ve got a team of doctors and then we have another set of doctors who are looking at all the test(s) and they’re all in agreement that there’s no curing what he has. And so you know, what do you do? We’re trying to make him a little more comfortable,” he said.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. It begins with the appearance of a build-up of proteins in the form of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain, which causes brain cells to die over time and the brain to shrink.
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Early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease include forgetting recent events or conversations. Over time, the disease leads to serious memory loss and affects a person’s ability to do everyday tasks. There is currently no cure.
Phil and his extended family became wealthy manufacturing duck calls — called Duck Commander — and were turned into TV and pop culture stars by Duck Dynasty, which has set cable ratings records for a non-fiction series.
The series ran for 11 seasons before the family announced the show was coming to an end.
“After five years, we’ve decided … as a family for this to be the final chapter of the Duck Dynasty series,” Jase said.
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The immensely popular show premiered in 2012 and broke multiple records for viewership right out of the gate, averaging more than 11 million viewers in Season 4. In the past years, people slowly stopped watching the show, due in part to Phil’s well-publicized homophobic comments.
In 2013, Phil was suspended for a brief period from Duck Dynasty filming because of the hostile remarks. He told GQ magazine that the Bible views gay people as sinners akin to adulterers, prostitutes and swindlers. He returned to the show after a “hiatus.”
“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty,” A&E, the network that aired Duck Dynasty, said in a statement at the time.
In 2017,it was announced that Phil was returning to TV but leaving the rest of the Duck Dynasty cast at home after he struck a deal with conservative digital network CRTV for a new series titled In the Woods With Phil.
The series focused on Phil’s personal thoughts on various topics and ran for one season.
In the first clip from the show, he spoke about his brief suspension from A&E for his offensive comments in the GQ story.
“What does a man do when they try to run him out of town for quoting a Bible verse?” Phil asked. “I’ll tell you what he does: he goes deep into the woods.”
Phil also said that he planned to reject “political correctness” with his spin-off show.
“For far too long we have been told to shut up. No more. Here’s the deal, America. These are my woods. Out here, I call the shots. Out here, we reject political correctness, or as I like to say, ‘pontificated crap,’” he said.
Phil’s death comes as the Duck Dynasty franchise is set to return to TV with Duck Dynasty: The Revival on June 1.
The show will follow Willie and Korie Robertson and their family of six as they “grapple with mapping out the future of Duck Commander,” according to the show’s synopsis. A&E has already ordered two seasons of the spin-off, with 20 episodes for each season.
— With files from Global News’ Chris Jancelewicz
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