The brief statement from the network read: "In evaluating the circumstances of the last few days, A&E has decided to take "Dog the Bounty Hunter" off the network's schedule for the foreseeable future. We hope that Mr. Chapman continues the healing process that he has begun."

The network had no further comment, but the statement leaves the door open for a return to airtime for "Dog the Bounty Hunter" at some point in the future.

A source close to the network, who asked that he not be quoted because he had no authority to release the information, said A&E has not made a final decision to cancel the show permanently.

The popular television bounty hunter's career was turned upside down Wednesday when a private phone conversation, in which he repeatedly used a racial slur, was taped by his son and sold to The National Enquirer.

Chapman issued a same-day apology shortly after a five-minute clip of the tape surfaced on The National Enquirer's Web site. In the conversation, Chapman repeatedly used the n-word in referencing his son Tucker's African-American girlfriend, Monique Shinnery.

On the tape, Chapman begs his son to break up with the girl and warns about concerns that she might attempt to record a tape of the bounty hunter's use of the slur in conversation and go public with it.

In the conversation, Duane Chapman said, among other things, "I'm not taking a chance on some n-----."

A&E immediately suspended production of the series on Wednesday, five weeks into its fifth season filming schedule.