Adults Adopting Adults Pulled From A&E Before Fans Even Saw An Adoption

A&E cancels their new shocking reality series Adults Adopting Adults, allegedly due to off-screen behavior by controversial star Danny Huff.

A&E’s Adults Adopting Adults, a new docuseries following the phenomenon of adults adopting adults, has been abruptly canceled and scrubbed from A&E’s official website during its first season, allegedly following fans’ concerns regarding the behavior of breakout star Danny Huff. Adults Adopting Adults was slated to chronicle the lives of several sets of would-be adopters and adoptees, and follow their trials and tribulations as they attempted to achieve their ultimate goal–creating the family they always dreamed of–via a legal adult adoption. 

Many of the hopeful adoptees had strained or nonexistent relationships with their biological parents and thus were seeking adult adoption in an attempt to feel the safety and security they never felt as children. Then there were the adopters, who all had their own motivations for pursuing the adult adoption process as well. There was German Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the widower of the original socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor, who legally needed an heir, otherwise his trust would be dissolved. There was the couple from Arizona who weren’t able to have their own children but, by adopting an adult, would have the opportunity to be grandparents. And then, of course, there was Danny.  

Danny and his wife, Christy, from Chillicothe, Ohio, were in the process of legally adopting Ileana, a homeless, pregnant 20-year-old from Austria. Danny and Ileana met over the Internet on a social media page dedicated to people interested in adult adoption. While A&E didn’t respond to requests from The Daily Beast to comment on the cancelation, Danny himself did, telling the publication, “I never had any inappropriate actions, words, comments, anything to [Ileana].” A&E is no stranger to creating shocking television, so it is quite suspect for them to choose to quietly cancel and pull the show. That said, fans were particularly concerned about Danny’s behavior and intentions with Ileana, considering his own admission that this is not the first adult adoption he has attempted. The first woman Danny attempted to adopt was an 18-year-old whom he met when she came to his house to buy a puppy. Danny admitted, with his wife looking on miserably, that he ultimately developed romantic feelings towards the teen, so they did not proceed with the adoption.

Furthermore, there is a great deal of speculation that A&E’s decision to cancel the show had less to do with his alleged on-screen predatory nature and more to do with his personal social media posts. A since-deleted TikTok video of Danny’s from February 12, 2021, captured by TikTok’s @AuntKaren0, began to surface last week in which he stated, “Racism is alive and well in this country. Unfortunately, it comes from the Blacks.” The Daily Beast further reported that Danny did not respond to their follow-up request for a comment on this video.  

The news of A&E’s decision to pull Adults Adopting Adults, allegedly due to Huff’s off-screen actions, doesn’t necessarily come as a shock to fans, especially considering the disturbing on-screen behavior already displayed by him. That being said, it does come as a huge disappointment to viewers across the country who have been tuning in for the past three weeks, desperate to figure out what exactly an adult adoption is.

Next: 90 Day Fiancé: Controversial Stars Fired From The Franchise (& Why)

Sources: The Daily Beast, @AuntKaren0/TikTok