'Duck Dynasty' star Phil Robertson reveals he has a 45-year-old daughter from an affair
Phil Robertson, the controversial patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan, recently learned he has a 45-year-old daughter from a decades-ago affair.
Phil, 74, shared the news about daughter Phyliss on Thursday’s episode of his BlazeTV podcast Unashamed With Phil Robertson. His four of his sons — Willie, Al, Jep and Jase — were there to discuss the family development together.
"It's a pretty cool explanation of redemption, reconciliation, love," Phil said. "As it turns out, 45 years, you have a daughter that you don't know about, and she has a father she doesn't know about. Forty-five years, that doesn't sound like very long but you say, that's a while. So finally, after all those years, we come together."
The first half of the episode saw them talking about their faith, and Phil’s “former life” was referenced — before he converted to Christianity in the 1970s. He has publicly spoken about being lost before that, drinking to excess, using drugs and cheating on his wife, Miss Kay, whom he married at age 17.
Al used the “former life” mention in telling how a few months back he and Jase were sent letters from a woman saying that a DNA test linked her to Phil. At first they didn’t think much of the letter — said since Duck Dynasty catapulted the family to fame in 2012, they’ve gotten lots of scam mail.
“Basically it was from a woman who said that by a DNA search, she thinks that dad might be her dad,” Al recalled. While he and Jase were initially doubtful, they started looking at the timeline and agreed, “There might be something to this.”
Al and Jase thought about ways to confirm the woman’s story before going to their parents about the “life-changing situation.” They brainstormed what they could do — including one of them secretly taking a DNA test — but, while discussing it with their cousin, he said he’d just call her and get the story.
"I started thinking, there's a 45-year-old woman out there who doesn't know who her dad is, and she's looking. And I thought, even if it's not dad, she needs to know it's not dad,” said All, who agreed that his cousin should call.
The cousin spoke with the woman, learning she was “not out for anything” and was a Christian, leading Al to feel comfortable enough about bringing the letter to Phil and Kay. While Phil was fuzzy about the era due to drinking, Kay wasn’t and said it was possible. So Phil took a DNA test —and Phyliss was retested by the same company — and they came back as a 99.9 percent match.
Phil recalled Al calling and saying not hello butt, “‘It’s a match.’ I’m like, ‘Bring her on down.’”
Phil said he used religion to make sense of it all, saying, “We know that in all things — in all things — ‘God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’”
Phil said they have all met Phyliss — and Kay has been “awesome” about the whole thing.
"I was so excited," Jep said of having a sister. "It was to me like a dream come true."
Jase said as soon as the DNA test was confirmed, he thought, “Whelp, I love her — because she’s my sister.” Though he said he had a moment where he thought, “Man, what a terrible deal for her. If she’s not familiar with Duck Dynasty, she’s gonna see that and say ... Are you kidding me? Out of all the people... I just thought that might be embarrassing. You know what I mean?”
Jase also revealed that before Phyliss sent the letters, she visited the Robertson’s church to scope out the family and meet Jase.
Willie has since shared a photo of one of the family gatherings with Phyliss. He said it was “so good” to find his “long lost sister,” adding, “Welcome to the nuttiest family around.”
Willie’s wife Korie and other family members have also shared photos of “new sister” Phyliss and her family all blended together:
There will be a part two of the podcast, which Phyliss and Miss Kay will also be a part of which debuts on Sunday.
The Robertsons have had an eventful time during the pandemic. In addition to finding a new siblings, there was a drive-by shooting at Willie’s estate. Luckily, there were no injuries.
Duck Dynasty went off the air in 2017 amid controversy over Phil’s anti-gay and racist comments.
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