As cable TV starts to go hard on its merry overload of holiday movies and similar fare, things aren’t quite as joyful off the screen, at least in some corners of Hollywood. So it goes for Candace Cameron Bure, who sparked an ongoing backlash with a recent interview promoting her new Great American Family content, as she explained her reasoning for switching away from Hallmark by saying GAF would be keeping “traditional marriage” central to its Christmassy programming. Many celebs have spoken out against her GLAAD-derided comments, with Hilarie Burton helping lead that charge, and the Fuller House vet’s mini-rival JoJo Siwa chimed in with some expectedly strong and explicit thoughts on the matter.
Speaking with People about becoming more accustomed to using her massive popularity to speak her mind and spread her message to fans and beyond, copping to potentially being a “little disruptive” where others’ lives are concerned, which was the case earlier this year when she pointed to Candace Cameron Bure being the rudest celeb she’d ever dealt with. But her initial comments about the GAF chief creative officer, as well as the latest ones, are entirely about the actress and network purposefully avoiding stories centering on the LGBTQ+ community. Asked if she’d been in contact with Bure, Siwa said:
We have not [talked], and I don't think we ever will again. That's what's fucked up. You not liking gay marriage, do your thing girl. You being religious, do your thing girl. Of course, I would want everybody to do what they want to do. But to purposely exclude someone because of who they love, that's shitty.
Even if the dancer and YouTube megastar’s values don’t line up with Bure’s, Siwa is fine enough with that, since not everyone is going to agree about everything, and people deserve to have their own opinions. But the sticking point here would seem to be that GAF on the whole has little interest in shining a spotlight on families that don’t fit certain stereotypes.
While Candace Cameron Bure tried to deflect negativity by blaming the media for inciting the backlash, and stating that she loves everyone as part of her faith-centered ways, she didn’t so directly address the actual issue that’s made others upset. And Siwa thinks that having a conversation with GLAAD’s CEO and president Sarah Kate Ellis would be a most constructive thing for the actress to do at this point, saying:
Sarah is a genius when it comes to the gay community. And I think that Candace having a conversation with her would be not only eye-opening to Candace but eye-opening to a whole world of people who might have those same beliefs.
It’s obviously impossible to know whether or not Siwa and Bure will ever have a conversation again in any capacity, as well as whether Bure will ever take the offer to talk to GLAAD’s head honcho. But here’s hoping whatever does happen, it leads to more agreements and positivity, since that’s the holiday ideal, if not the norm.
Check out our rundown of all the upcoming Christman and holiday movies and specials coming to the small screen soon.
