Todd Hoffman has been traveling a rocky road ever since his show Gold Rush premiered a couple of years ago, and now Duck Dynasty‘s Willie Robertson has reached out to give him some encouragement. After all, beards gotta stick together, right?
Gold Rush has been the target of a lot of criticism, and most of it is focused directly on Todd. He doesn’t know anything about gold mining, the critics say, and he would never have an opportunity to run a mine if the Discovery Channel and its sponsors weren’t bank rolling his operation.
These criticisms have followed the show since its premier. Recently, though, it seems to have become OK to make personal attacks on Todd, specifically that he is not only ignorant (about gold mining) and dishonest (about how his operation is funded), but also that he is lazy. When Christo Doyle, the Executive Producer of Gold Rush added his voice to those personal attacks on The Dirt: The Gold Rush Aftershow, Todd says he crossed a line.
Using his Facebook page to vent, Todd said that Christo had “thrown him under the bus,” and that he “wanted to go after him for that.” He seemed to calm down quickly, though, after receiving a lot of positive encouragement from the fans. It looks like he is doing nothing at the worksite, he says, but actually he’s keeping two mines and a television show running.
Now let me address me working. You see me walk into scenes because I’m starting them. I can’t be a laborer and provide you with a great Gold Rush. The shoot schedule is overwhelming to say the least. This show doesn’t just happen.
Trust me I would love nothing better than to hide in an excavator. It’s great work but Gold Rush takes more than that. Much much more. I have given everything I can to give you guys the best.We have to work closely daily with the production crew planning what we are mining and how to catch it safely. As mine owner I’m in charge of safety of not only my guys and children but also the safety of all the 20 camera crew running around. All that responsibility falls on me. I take it serious.
I take my faith serious and when my prayers get cut out it bothers me.
I’m not perfect and I’m a big boy but when The Dirt and the show suggests that I’m lazy and stupid I’m going to step out and call BS. I also have to defend all the guys who came and worked hard and are portrayed like they sat around in lawn chairs. That’s not right.
I’m not afraid of Discovery Channel or anyone else for that matter.
No matter what you think of Todd Hoffman, there are a couple things that aren’t controversial at all. First, and perhaps most importantly, Gold Rush was his idea. He made a sizzle reel, he pitched it to Discovery, and he followed through to help make it a reality. See all of the shows on TV about gold mining, now? That’s because Todd Hoffman had a great idea. Secondly, he stands up for his vision and his team. The antagonistic chemistry between Christo and Todd may be punched up a bit for the sake of good TV, but I don’t think anyone doubts the true tension at the root of it. This latest scuffle between them is a case in point. And, while Todd has been open about his frustrations with Christo, he has never attacked him personally.
That’s how it looks to me, any way. And, it appears that Willie Roberson, of Duck Dynasty sees something similar. Using his Facebook page again to communicate with his fans, Todd let us know that Willie had reached out to him to offer encouragement and support.
Shot show was great. After Christo lashed out at me on The Dirt he did apologize to me so that was cool but he hurt the shows integrity. Hope he doesn’t make anymore moves like that in the future. Willie my friend from the TV show Duck Dynasty texted me an encouraging text that basically told me to not quit and that we need other Christians on the front lines showing positive values. That meant a lot to me when I was down. Be an encouragement like that to someone who is hurting, soon it will be your turn.
If you follow Todd on Facebook, you learn quickly that he uses that platform mainly to offer encouragement to his fans. Say what you will about Todd, he spends a lot of time thinking about how to raise people up–how to use his fame to become an inspiration to those who identify with him. Some see nothing but made-for-TV posturing in this part of Todd’s persona, but are they being fair to the man?
It is interesting to think about Duck Dynasty and Gold Rush together and to compare their entrepreneurial stars. There appear to be many difference between these two families and their businesses, but you have to wonder how much of that is genuine and how much of it is made for television. But, hey! This is reality TV. Sometimes its hard to tell fact from fiction.
