Dog the Bounty Hunter star Lyssa Chapman is defending her father Duane “Dog” Chapman days before his wedding to Francie Frane after her sisters Cecily Chapman and Bonnie Jo Chapman claimed they were not invited. “Baby Lyssa” accused her sisters of “putting out lies” about Duane and alleged that Duane’s “ex-business partners” were putting ideas in Bonnie’s head. In the tweets, Lyssa also stressed that her father is not racist or homophobic.
“My sister(s) are putting out lies about our father. Do not listen! For the record, Bonnie and Cecily are loved by our family and we are heartbroken that bad people are using them to get revenge on Dad,” Lyssa wrote Monday afternoon. “Dad is not a racist and not homophobic. He loves all people.” In a follow-up tweet, Lyssa claimed Duane’s “ex-business partners” put ideas in Bonnie’s head because they were “Angry they couldn’t ride his coattails any longer. Duane broke off his business relationship with these people “when he realized they were con men.”
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My sister(s) are putting out lies about our father. Do not listen! For the record, Bonnie and Cecily are loved by our family and we are heartbroken that bad people are using them to get revenge on Dad.
Dad is not a racist and not homophobic. He loves all people.
— Lyssa Chapman (@BabyLyssaC) August 23, 2021
“They said they ‘fired’ him to save face and then started grooming two of his daughters as revenge,” Lyssa wrote. “I believe they are of a cult mentality and my sisters have been indoctrinated.” A few hours later, Lyssa tweeted, “There’s a reason why these garbage stories come [out] on GARBAGE media sites!!”
The latest Chapman family drama began when Cecily, the daughter of Duane’s late wife Beth whom he later adopted, told The Sun she was calling off her own plans to marry her boyfriend later this year. In the same interview, Cecily said she had not received an invitation to Duane and Frane’s Sept. 2 wedding. If asked to go, Cecily said she would because Duane is “still my dad.”
On Monday, Bonnie and Cecily both told TMZ they were not invited to the wedding. They both said they had no problem with Duane getting married again, and speculated that there might be a “personal issue” with their father. According to TMZ, Duane and Beth’s son Garry Chapman was invited to his wedding. Cecily wondered if Bonnie’s participation in protests and activism may have played a role.
“What I’m seeing personally is that my dad is having a hard time dealing with the fact that maybe he’s not gonna be able to replace my mom and that maybe me and Bonnie bring out a lot from my mom and that he sees our mom in us,” Cecily told TMZ. “I feel like that scares him. Yes, he can move on, yes he can get married again — that’s not the problem. I think he’s just scared that we remind him too much of our mother.”
After TMZ published their interviews with Cecily and Bonnie, Duane’s rep addressed their comments. “We love Bonnie and Cecily very much, as we do all our family,” the statement read. “We pray for their health and happiness every day. Beyond that statement, we wish to keep any family issues private.”
As for Lyssa’s comments, they appear to be referencing the fallout from Duane’s Dog Unleashed situation. The show was supposed to air on a new streaming platform called Unleashed on April 1, but it was canceled just days before the platform launched. The company accused Duane of violating “contractual obligations.” The producers also accused him of racism and homophobia following an investigation. Duane was previously accused of racism in 2007 when a recording leaked, leading to A&E briefly canceling Dog the Bounty Hunter before bringing it back in 2008. The show continued airing through 2012 and was followed by Dog and Beth: On The Hunt (2013-2015) and Dog’s Most Wanted (2019).
