There’s been a lot of commentary about Hallmark and GAF this holiday season. This is partially because both cable networks have competing Christmas films airing. It’s partially because GAF’s stars largely came from the Hallmark pool. Finally, it’s also happening because Candace Cameron Bure made some vocal comments about her new network’s “traditional marriage” focus and how her former home feels like a “completely different network” after the exit of head honcho Bill Abbott. This spurred a bit of controversy online, and now fellow Christmas star Lacey Chabert has been asked about how she feels.
Lacey Chabert has been a mainstay at Hallmark for a long time, ever since Elevator Girl: 49 hit the network back in 2010. Over the years, she and Candace Cameron Bure were both involved in the channel’s Christmas movies schedule of programming and have been friendly on social media, even after Bure’s exit news broke. So, when Chabert was asked about the brouhaha surrounding comments Bure made earlier this year, it’s not a huge surprise that she focused in on her own feelings surrounding the network.
Any shift I’ve felt has been embracing our creative ideas. And it’s my responsibility to the audience who continue to tune into my movies that I give the best I have to offer. That’s always my mission. I’ll never abandon what Hallmark means for me, which is that everything is centered around the heart. I don’t think there are any plans for that to change anytime soon.
Hallmark has made no bones about committing to diversity moving forward. This year, the network premiered the first LGBTQ-led rom-com with Jonathan Bennett in the lead. The network said at the time it was committed to bringing lots of different kinds of love stories to the big screening, with head of programming Lisa Hamilton Daly noting:
It’s important because we really do want to show everybody gets their love story. It's not just straight couples. It's not just white couples, it's everyone gets their love story.
Meanwhile, GAF has gone in a different direction with its programming. Candace Cameron Bure was candid about that, and received some backlash for her comments, though fellow holiday star Danica McKeller said she was supportive of Bure’s intentions after Bure announced GAF would keep “traditional marriage at its core.”
Amidst a slew of her fellow Hallmark stars leaving for GAF, Lacey Chabert signed an overall deal with the network allowing her to take on a more vocal role, including producing some of her own cable TV movies. In the interview Chabert was asked about her feelings on other stars leaving and whether or not she was approached. she noted of the situation with familiar faces heading away from the network that made them household names:
You know what, I wish everybody the best. I really can’t comment on it further other than I care about everybody involved.
She also said in the interview “I’m with Hallmark, and I work for them” when asked if anyone had attempted to “poach” her herself. This is good news for fans, as Chabert recently kicked off filming another trilogy of Wedding Veil movies with her fellow co-stars Alison Sweeney and Autumn Reeser, with the first one hitting the TV schedule on January 7th. There will be plenty more coming for her on the network in 2023 and beyond, and we'll keep you posted every step of the way.
