Celebrities react to Candace Cameron Bure’s comment about traditional marriage. Image Source: ET
Celebrities react to Candace Cameron Bure’s comment about traditional marriage.
Candace Cameron Bure, the Fuller House actress, recently told The Wall Street Journal that the subject of The Great American Family will be traditional marriage. She decided to leave Hallmark to join former CEO Bill Abbott at the new company earlier this year. During the interview, she said that she knows that the people behind Great American Family are Christians who love the Lord and want to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.
During the interview, Candace was asked if, just like Hallmark, they would be pushing more for LGBTQ+ storylines, to which she replied that the Great American Family will focus on traditional marriage, and Bill Abbott added that it’s certainly 2022 and they are aware of the trends, but no whiteboard says yes to this or no, they will not go there. Candace Cameron Bure also GAM fits her brand perfectly, she says, adding that they share a vision of creating convincing, wholesome material for a viewing public that desires to watch programming with and for the entire family. The actress stated that it has high-quality entertainment with a positive message, which is what her collaboration with GAM is all about.
Now, the members and allies of Hollywood’s LGBTQ+ community have spoken up against her remarks about focusing on traditional marriages. Jojo Siwa tweeted that she cannot believe that she would not only create a movie to exclude LGBTQIA+ but also talk about it in the media, adding that it’s rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.
Holly Robinson Peete, who has also starred in various Hallmark films, stated that Candace Cameron Bure’s performances are disappointing but not surprising. She adds that she can go and make the content that she wants to make, but why is she insisting on lecturing others? Holly mentioned that it sounded judgmental and mentioned that, as a proud LGBTQIA+ person, the traditional marriage quote stings, noting that she is proud to be on the Hallmark Channel, which understands the importance of diversity and inclusion of everyone.
Hilarie Burton Morgan also weighed in with her opinion on Bill Abbott's thoughts stating that they are aware of the trends, noting that being LGBTQ is not a trend, and adding that Bill Abbott and his network are disgusting. Hilarie quoted Candance, too, adding that there is nothing untraditional about same-sex couples.
Hallmark star Jonathan Bennett spoke with PEOPLE about his network's move toward more inclusive storytelling. He said that what he loves so much about Hallmark Channel is the care they take in the quality of telling the story, especially when it involves LGBTQ+ people; it's handled with so much respect.
Maren Morris also commented on Matt Bernstein's post criticizing Bure, which stated that people went decades without seeing an LGBTQ character on screen and finally they are now in one out of every five films. So, he would like to apologize if their being represented on-screen bothers anyone and for that he'd be sending thoughts and prayers. Maren commented that make DJ Gay Again.
Candace Cameron Bure responded to several points raised by her critics in a statement shared with People. She said that everyone who knows her know beyond question that she has great love and affection for all people and it breaks her heart that anyone would ever think she would intentionally want to offend and hurt anyone.
She explained in her statement that she is a devoted Christian which means that she believes that every human being bears the image of God and because of that, she is called to love all people, and she does. Candace's statement continued that her heart yearns to bridge gaps and bring people closer to God, to love others too, and to simply be a representation of God's immense love for all. She also stated in the WSJ discussion that individuals of all races and identities have contributed to the network in significant ways both behind and in front of the camera, which she will motivate and wholeheartedly endorse. However, the actress stated that this scene was not included in the final version of the story.
She addressed the members of the media who have used this possibility to fan the flames of conflict and hatred, saying that she has a simple message for them: she loves them anyway. She loves those who despise what she values and who attack her online. She went on to say that she loves those who have tried to assassinate her character and that she loves everyone reading this, regardless of race, creed, sexuality, or political party, including those who have tried to bully her with name-calling. The actress also said that her former home, Hallmark is now a completely different network than when she started because of the change of leadership.
