Spike TV is apologizing for airing an episode of its reality series Bar and Rescue featuring the Nashville bar where owner Chris Ferrell allegedly shot country musician Jerald Wayne Mills of the Wayne Mills Band.
On Saturday morning, Ferrell, the owner of local bar Pit and Barrel, allegedly shot Mills following an argument the two were having about smoking a cigarette inside the establishment. Ferrell claims he shot Mills at 5 a.m. in self-defense.
Mills was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he later died. He was 44.
Coincidentally, Spike TV's Bar Rescue, hosted by hospitality expert Jon Taffer, had just revamped Pit and Barrel (previously called BoondoxXx BBQ & Juke Joint), and the episode was set to premiere Sunday night. But the network announced Sunday morning that a previous episode would replace it in the 10 p.m. slot. Facebook comments and tweets poured in from fans thanking the network for the sensitive scheduling decision.
However, the network ended up only pulling the initial airing of the Pit and Barrel episode and overlooked the encore airing. Titled "Music City Mess," the episode aired at midnight to audience outrage.
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"Fans, we apologize for our late-night telecast of a sensitive episode of Bar Rescue," Spike TV said in a post on the Bar Rescue Facebook page. The network also released a statement Monday regarding the matter: "In our last minute effort over the weekend to pull the Bar Rescue episode featuring the Pit and Barrel, we regretfully did not remove a late-night telecast of the episode. We apologize to all those affected by the terrible tragedy over the weekend and to Jon Taffer, the production team, and our advertisers for our unfortunate human error."
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