To: The #AIRS Campaign urges AMC Networks' CEO Kristin Dolan, President Dan McDermott, and the Board of Directors to end Love After Lockup.
#AIRS Campaign: Urging AMC to End Love After Lockup and Stop Profiting From Incarceration
The #AIRS Campaign, a coalition dedicated to combating exploitative media narratives, is calling on AMC Networks to take immediate action by discontinuing the reality show Love After Lockup.
This program exploits the struggles of formerly incarcerated individuals and their families by sensationalizing their lives for profit. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes, reduces complex realities to mere entertainment, and normalizes the damaging system of mass incarceration. Rather than fostering a meaningful understanding of the challenges faced by these individuals, the show reinforces stigma and undermines efforts toward justice, reintegration, and systemic reform.
As a prominent media organization, AMC Networks has the power to lead by example. By ending Love After Lockup, AMC can show a commitment to ethical storytelling that aligns with values of dignity, fairness, and responsibility. Taking this step would not only help shift the narrative around incarceration but also demonstrate that the media industry can contribute to a more compassionate, inclusive, and just society.
We urge Kristin Dolan, CEO of AMC Networks; Dan McDermott, President of Entertainment and AMC Studios; and the AMC Networks Board of Directors to take this important step in ending Love After Lockup. The #AIRS Campaign stands ready to collaborate and engage further in supporting this critical step toward meaningful change.
Why is this important?
The #AIRS Campaign urges AMC Networks to end Love After Lockup, a reality show that profits by exploiting the lives of formerly incarcerated individuals and their families. This program sensationalizes their struggles, reducing their complex realities to entertainment for profit.
By trivializing incarceration and portraying vulnerable individuals in a dehumanizing light, Love After Lockup perpetuates harmful stereotypes and normalizes the exploitation of incarceration as a form of entertainment. This narrative reinforces societal indifference to the injustices of the prison-industrial complex, undermining efforts toward equity, dignity, and meaningful reform.
This campaign matters because it addresses the broader issue of how media shapes public perception of marginalized communities. Shows like Love After Lockup normalize exploitation, making it harder for society to recognize and address the systemic injustices faced by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Joining this campaign means standing up for the dignity of all people and rejecting media practices that dehumanize vulnerable populations. Together, we can demand accountability from media companies, challenge harmful narratives, and push for programming that uplifts stories of resilience, justice, and meaningful change. This fight is not just about ending a TV show—it’s about dismantling a system that profits from human suffering and turning the tide toward a more compassionate and equitable society.
How it will be delivered
The #AIRS Campaign will deliver the petition through multiple channels, including Change.org for global access, and directly to AMC Networks' leadership via email and physical letters. We will amplify our message through social media, encouraging widespread sharing, and organize events to engage directly with AMC Networks. Our strategy aims to build momentum and demonstrate strong support for removing Love After Lockup.