Duane 'Dog' Chapman's lawyer has confirmed that it was the TV bounty hunter’s son who was responsible for exposing him as a racist.

Tucker Chapman reportedly taped a private phone conversation in which his father repeatedly used the N-word in reference to his son’s girlfriend – and then sold it to a tabloid for "a lot of money."

"I guess because of whatever level of anger he had of his father, he felt the need to express it in that manner," attorney Brook Hart tells The Associated Press.

Dog apologized to Tucker and the woman in question, before learning that it was his son who had sold him out.

A&E has suspended production of Dog's TV series pending an enquiry into the incident.

"When the inquiry is concluded, we will take appropriate action," A&E spokesman Michael Feeney said in a statement.