Candace Cameron Bure made headlines last year when she spoke out about how her new network Great American Family (GAF) would keep “traditional marriage at the core” of its programming. Her comments sparked a flurry of responses from Hallmark stars, including Fuller House co-star Jodie Sweetin, reportedly had a kerfuffle with Bure after the comments went viral. The actress has maintained a prominent position at the company and backlash has died down in recent months. Now, head honcho Bill Abbott seems to be distancing himself from what was said during the holiday season last year.
There’s been much said about the directions the two romance movie networks have been going in over the past year. A so-called "culture war" has been setup at Hallmark and GAF, with the former nabbing some of the latter's stars. Hallmark has tried to dive deep into diversity, focusing on romances amongst people from different backgrounds and giving more voice to LGBTQ stories. GAF has brought more tradition and religious concepts into its storytelling, an idea Abbott has likened to avoiding divisiveness.
Recently, in an a wide-ranging interview, Abbott was asked about how things are going and more for the network as it continues to grow. Amidst this, Variety asked the former Hallmark CEO to respond to the backlash regarding Bure’s comments, and he explained the biggest “misconceptions” he feels are out there.
Well, I think it’s twofold. One is that family-friendly content is milk toast and is not entertaining, and that it is very formulaic. We can put that in the box over here, and I think other places continue to prove that and do it well. I think also that we are for all people. We are for just a sense of love and peace in the world, and we are deeply committed to inspiring and uplifting. Life is hard enough. We don’t need more divisive conversations, or to create more barriers. We just want all people to embrace the experience of Great American Media and feel entertained by the content that they see, the talent that they see on screen and the amount of commitment that we have toward raising the bar in this space, and making it high quality.
According to the GAF CEO, the network is avoiding “divisive conversations” with its content, which has attracted plenty of attention by the media, but also from some stars. In fact, a slew of Hallmark stars have left for GAF over the past year+ and now both networks have upcoming Christmas movies coming down the pipeline.
GAF Still Loves Having Candace Cameron Bure On Board
Bure has previously explained why she exited Hallmark, and while Bill Abbott says that Bure is not the driving force behind the network, its basic tenets and its audience, he does acknowledge that having Bure and other original talent on board has been beneficial. He also said in the interview:
We are absolutely blown away by Candace’s taste, judgment and ability. Her overall knowledge is way beyond what our expectations were, and we always knew that she would contribute to what we were doing in many ways, but never at the level that she does. She works harder than any human being on the planet. She’s watching content, she’s reading scripts, she’s weighing in on cast, and she has contacts, quite frankly, that some of us don’t. Given her length of time in the business and her experience, she’s been just absolutely spectacular. She’s been better arguably for us organizationally, behind the camera, then she is even in front of the camera, to give you an idea of how good she is. She’s really special, and not many people can be in front of the screen and function in that role and do it in a very honest, genuine way that is really just well-intentioned and for the team.
It’s not just Bure either who has led the charge for talent at GAF, though she does have the additional honor of being on board as Chief Content Officer for the company. He also cited talents like Jen Lilley and Danica McKellar as having an impact on the brand. All three women formerly produced projects at Hallmark. McKellar has also responded to the backlash over the comments.
