SBS has pulled its documentary series Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl from its January schedule after it emerged Michael LaHoud, one of its gang-land stars, has been telling tall tales about his past.
LaHoud had claimed to be part of the notorious gang culture in south western Sydney and that he had spent several years in jail for armed robbery. At the same time he claims to have fathered three children while in prison. None of which is true. In fact LaHoud spent less than week in correctional facilities before being granted bail and later having all charges dropped.
In a statement released this morning SBS said: “The integrity and accuracy of SBS programming and respect for our audience is paramount, therefore the network has decided to remove the series from its schedule until full investigations are carried out to its satisfaction.”
The network is hoping to verify the content and re-edit the series to air later in 2014.
The embarrassing climb down comes amid a major marketing campaign for the show, which launched last week. Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl aimed to explore the relationships in the Australian Lebanese community in Sydney, but it looks like SBS missed some fairly basic background checking on this one.
The show, a follow up to the excellent Once upon a Time in Cabramatta, is a key part of SBS's 2014 slate.
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