Full House star Candace Cameron Bure appeared in over two dozen Hallmark Channel television movies before making the jump to Great American Family earlier this year, a cable channel that focuses more on conservative Christian values. But in addition to her new executive role at the fledging network, it’s not hard to read between the lines as to why Cameron Bure left Hallmark, which has been making progressive strides in recent years.
And after the 46-year-old admitted insomuch in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, actress Hilarie Burton, who has been married to The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan since 2019, has called out Cameron Bure for her apparent bigotry and hypocrisy.
Candace Bure left the Hallmark Channel to follow former honcho Bill Abbott, who now serves as chief executive of Great American Media, over to her new network. Abbott abruptly left Hallmark in 2019 after getting hit with backlash for refusing to air a commercial featuring two brides kissing for the wedding-planning website Zola.
Now, as Hallmark is about to debut The Holiday Sitter, the network’s first original G-rated LGTBQ+ holiday rom-com next month, Cameron Bure was asked if we can eventually expect to see similar strides in diversity from Great American Family. You’ll be shocked to hear that we most certainly can not.
Asked if she expects her new channel to feature same-sex couples as leads in holiday movies, Mrs. Bure said no. “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core,” she said.
Mr. Abbott was vague in his thoughts on the subject. “It’s certainly the year 2022, so we’re aware of the trends,” he said. “There’s no whiteboard that says, ‘Yes, this’ or ‘No, we’ll never go here.’”
Given the context, it seems highly unlikely that Great American Family will ever produce same-sex content. In addition to Abbott’s hasty departure from Hallmark, Cameron Bure famously defended an Oregon bakery that refused to make a same-sex couple a wedding cake while co-hosting The View in 2015.
In response to Cameron Bure and Abbott’s remarks, Burton — who has likewise appeared in her fair share of Hallmark Channel and Lifetime holiday movies —called out the pair for “openly admitting their bigotry.”
“Now they’re just openly admitting their bigotry,” Burton fired off in a tweet on Monday evening. “I called this shit out years ago when Abbott was at Hallmark. Glad they dumped him. Being LGBTQ isn’t a ‘trend.’ That guy and his network are disgusting. You too Candy. There is nothing untraditional about same-sex couples.”
“Bigot,” Burton added in a follow-up tweet. “I don’t remember Jesus liking hypocrites like Candy. But sure. Make your money, honey. You ride that prejudice wave all the way to the bank.”
Cameron Bure has yet to respond to Burton and it seems unlikely that she will. And given her chiding non-apology to Jojo Siwa earlier this year after being called out as “the rudest celebrity [she had] has ever met,” that is probably for the best.
