Candace Cameron Bure‘s “Full House” and “Fuller House” co-star Jodie Sweetin showed support for Jojo Siwa, who spoke out against Bure over recent comments Bure made about “traditional marriage.” Bure has been widely criticized following an interview with The Wall Street Journal in which she said her new television home at Great American Family would not spotlight gay couples in lead roles. Bure, who is Great American Family’s chief creative officer, said the network “will keep traditional marriage at the core.”
“Honestly, I can’t believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press,” wrote Siwa, who publicly came out as gay in 2021. “This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”
Sweetin was one of several celebrities who showed support for Siwa on her Instagram post. “You know I love you,” Sweetin wrote. Dancer and actor Maddie Zeigler added, “Go off, Jojo!”
In addition to supporting Siwa, Sweetin also used her Instagram story to promote GLAAD’s initiative to protect the Marriage Act from being overturned. GLAAD issued its own statement about Bure’s comments and has invited her to sit down for a conversation.
“It’s irresponsible and hurtful for Candace Cameron Bure to use tradition as a guise for exclusion,” GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said. “I’d love to have a conversation with Bure about my wife, our kids and our family’s traditions. Bure is out of sync with a growing majority of people of faith, including LGBTQ people of faith, who know that LGBTQ couples and families are deserving of love and visibility.”
Ellis continued, “As the company’s chief creative officer, her statement is harmful and insulting to LGBTQ employees, as well as employees with LGBTQ friends and family. If Great American Family’s plan is to intentionally exclude stories about LGBTQ couples, then actors, advertisers, cable and streaming platforms, and production companies should take note and seriously consider whether they want to be associated with a network that holds exclusion as one of its values.”
Bure moved to Great American Family from her longtime home at Hallmark, a network she told WSJ she exited because she “knew that the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.” Great American Family founder is former Hallmark CEO Bill Abbott, who doubled down on Bure’s claim that the new network will not spotlight gay couples.
“It’s certainly the year 2022, so we’re aware of the trends,” Abbott said referring to LGBTQ-driven films. “There’s no whiteboard that says, ‘Yes, this’ or ‘No, we’ll never go here.’”
Bure and Abbott’s comments have generated backlash from many celebrities, including “One Tree Hill” alum Hilarie Burton Morgan, who called Bure a “bigot” on Twitter, adding, “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.”
