A&E suspended Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson — and reinstated him nine days later

In the January 2014 issue of GQ — online December 17, 2013 — Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson spoke about homosexuality: "It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man's anus..." and "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men."

On December 18, A&E placed him on indefinite hiatus: "We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson's comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty... The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely." Three days later Cracker Barrel pulled Duck Commander products "while we evaluate the situation" — then reversed itself the next day: "Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores."

On December 27, nine days after the suspension, A&E lifted it: "After discussions with the Robertson family, as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups, A&E has decided to resume filming 'Duck Dynasty' later this spring with the entire Robertson family," adding a planned PSA campaign on unity and tolerance. The family had said the hiatus punished Phil "for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right."

Cracker Barrel's 24-hour reversal showed the audience outshouted the outrage, so A&E reinstated him in nine days with a PSA campaign.

The interview made the show itself the argument — every future episode would be judged as A&E's position on its star's beliefs.

Cracker Barrel's 24-hour reversal was the market telling the network which way the risk ran — the audience was bigger than the outcry.

Reinstatement with a PSA was the compromise shape: a penalty both sides could read as principle.

A network can suspend its biggest star in a day and reinstate him in nine — the retailer's 24-hour reversal showed the audience outshouted the outrage.

No brand left the franchise permanently: Duck Dynasty returned to filming with the full family in spring 2014 and remained A&E's biggest show. The episode became the reference case for suspension-and-reinstatement — a penalty measured in days when the market signal is ambiguous.