A&E said Saturday (Dec. 24) it will not move forward with its upcoming documentary Escaping the KKK: A Documentary Series Exposing Hate in Americaafter discovering that the show's producers paid for access to series participants.

The controversial documentary series, which was to focus on the Ku Klux Klan, had generated negative publicity since A&E announced the series earlier this month. The series was set to premiere Jan. 10.

Network officials said in a statement that the producers of the documentary made payments to participants of the series in "direct violation of A&E's policies and practices for a documentary." A&E on Friday changed the name of the series from Generation KKK and enlisted anti-hate organization Color of Change as a partner in the series. 

A&E's statement on the cancellation of the series is as follows: The documentary ‘Escaping the KKK’ was intended to serve as a close look at anti-hate extractors focused on helping people leave the Ku Klux Klan—the racist hate group with a long history of violence against African Americans and others. Our goal with this series has always been to expose and combat racism and hatred in all its forms.  

However, A&E learned last night from the third-party producers who made the documentary that cash payments -- which we currently understand to be nominal -- were made in the field to some participants in order to facilitate access.  While we stand behind the intent of the series and the seriousness of the content, these payments are a direct violation of A&E’s policies and practices for a documentary.  We had previously provided assurances to the public and to our core partners - including the Anti-Defamation League and Color of Change - that no payment was made to hate group members, and we believed that to be the case at the time.  We have now decided not to move forward with airing this project.

A&E takes the authenticity of its documentary programming and the subject of racism, hatred and violence very seriously.  Just because this particular show goes away, the issues of hate in America do not.  We will still seek to fight hate in America through on-air programming including town halls and documentary programs produced in partnership with civil rights organizations, as well as continue to work with the civil rights community to facilitate a deeper dialogue on ending hate through comprehensive educational and outreach campaigns.

A&E will debut Generation KKK, a docuseries about the Ku Klux Klan, Jan. 10.

The eight-part series follows four prominent Klan families who each have a family member trying to escape the KKK.

“This series pulls back the curtain on the organization that the Anti-Defamation League calls ‘a racist, anti-Semitic movement with a commitment to extreme violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation and white supremacy,’ to show its effects on American families as members grapple with the consequences of leaving," A&E said.

“This series gives viewers an unprecedented look at what it is like to be born into hate. Our producers gained access to Klan families allowing for full immersion into this secret world and its impact on the next generation,” said Rob Sharenow, executive VP and general manager of A&E and Lifetime. “GenerationKKK brings viewers inside the places where hatred and prejudice are born and bred, and carried forward or not.”

White supremacist groups have become more prominent amidst the so called “alt-right” movement and the recent election.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.