‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Announces Tragic Health Update

Duck Dynasty star Jase Robertson announced that his father, Phil Robinson, has been diagnosed with “early stages” of Alzheimer’s disease.

During an episode of Unashamed with the Robertson Family podcast, Jase revealed that the family had been “trying to figure out” what Phil’s diagnosis was, adding that they were probing the possibility that he was dealing with some sort of blood disease. Jase added that in addition to the blood disease, his father was dealing with the “early stages” of Alzheimer’s.

“Phil’s not doing well,” Jase explained. “I think I spoke on the 1,000th podcast, we were kind of trying to figure out the diagnosis, but according to the doctors, they’re sure that he has some sort of blood disease that’s causing all kinds of problems.”

Jase added that Phil’s condition had “accelerated” and was now affecting his entire body.

Phil Robertson speaks at CPAC in 2015

“And, he has early stages of Alzheimer’s,” Jase continued. “So, if you put those things together, he’s just not doing well. He’s really struggling.”

Alan Robertson, Phil’s oldest son, noted that his father “has good days and bad days,” just like “anybody with Alzheimer’s.”

Elsewhere in the podcast episode, Jase thanked fans and supporters on behalf of the Robertson family for all the prayers and well wishes for Phil. He did note that doctors have stated there is “no curing” Phil’s illness, adding that the family is “trying to make him a little more comfortable.”

Phil starred on Duck Dynasty and was widely seen as the face of the franchise from 2012 through 2017. He also founded the Duck Commander Company.

A devout Christian, Robertson was suspended by A&E in 2013 for stating that LGBT people would go to hell if they didn’t change their ways in an interview with GQ magazine. The decision to suspend who was the network’s most popular personality at the time ignited a firestorm, with Robertson’s supporters threatening to boycott the network for censoring his views. Phil was eventually reinstated by the network.

Robertson frequently advocated for Christian values in conservative political circles as well. He spoke at numerous conservative conventions, including CPAC, and was a regular on Fox News.

In 2022, Phil released his book, Uncancelled: Finding Meaning And Peace In A Culture Of Accusations, Shame, And Condemnation.  The book detailed how the modern cancel culture comment presents challenges for people advocating for a true Christian lifestyle and belief system.

“The ones who attacked me, I didn’t hold it against them,” Robertson told Fox News at the time. “They asked me a question about a particular sin, homosexual behavior. And they asked if I believed it was a sin. I thought to myself, that’s a weird question to ask someone, but I just quoted a Bible verse… I quoted what God had to say about that sin and nine other sins, but it was in the list of sins. . . . As we were doing ‘Duck Dynasty,’ the upper crowd at A&E decided to drop the axe on me without first looking into what went down.”

Robertson rose to national prominence when Duck Dynasty set ratings records for a non-fiction series in 20212. The series eventually came to an end after 11 seasons in 2017.

The Robertson family patriarch told Fox News that he has no regrets about the GQ interview.

“No regrets at all – none,” he said. “I just went on. I never called A&E and said, ‘What are you doing?’ I never said a word when they came to visit me about 10 days after this all went down. I said, ‘Guys, did y’all ever hear from me with some kind of irate phone call? ‘Cause you were firing me?’ They said, ‘Mr. Robertson, you never said a word.’ . . . I quoted a Bible verse that dealt with homosexual behavior,” he said.

“I just quoted the Bible verse that God had written through Paul the Apostle by the power of the Holy Spirit . . . I didn’t dream it off the top of my head. It didn’t go any further than that,” he added.