The Tanner sisters are split on their opinion of the Great American Family.
In a statement to People, Jodie Sweetin — who starred as Stephanie Tanner on both Full House and its Netflix spin-off Fuller House — addressed the fact that her new film Craft Me a Romance would air on Great American Family. Candace Cameron Bure, Sweetin’s co-star and longtime friend, is the chief creative officer of the network, which, according to the Great American Media website, “features original Christmas movies, rom-coms and classic series that celebrate faith, family and country.”
“Sometimes, we, as actors, don’t have control over which network buys the projects we are in, nor are we a part of the process in which they get sold,” Sweetin said. “So I was very surprised to learn by reading about it in the press yesterday that the independent film I worked on over a year ago was sold to Great American Family.”
Sweetin added that she was “disappointed, but in keeping with my mission of supporting the LGBTQ+ family, any potential or future money made from this sale will be donated to LGBTQ+ organizations.”
Great American Family is led by Bill Abbott, who departed rival network Hallmark after the network was criticized for pulling an advertisement featuring a same-sex wedding. Bure, a longtime star of Hallmark movies, followed Abbott to his new network, where she stars and also produces content under the banner “Candace Cameron Bure Presents.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in November 2022, Bure said that the “change in leadership” at Hallmark made the network entirely different from the one she started working at.
“My heart wants to tell stories that have more meaning and purpose and depth behind them,” she said of leaving Hallmark and joining Great American Family. “I knew that the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment.”
She also shared that Great American Family “will keep traditional marriage at the core,” a comment that stirred controversy — and seemed to reveal a divide in thought between her and Sweetin. At the time, Sweetin “liked” an Instagram comment from queer celebrity JoJo Siwa, who wrote of Bure’s Wall Street Journal comments, “This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”
Of the blowback, Bure wrote on Instagram, “All of you know me, know beyond question that I have great love and affection for all people. It absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone. It saddens me that the media is often seeking to divide us, even around a subject as comforting and merry as Christmas movies. But, given the toxic climate in our culture right now, I shouldn’t be surprised. We need Christmas more than ever.”
She added, “To the members of the media responsible for using this opportunity to fan flames of conflict and hate, I have a simple message: I love you anyway. To those who hate what I value and who are attacking me online: I love you. To those who have tried to assassinate my character: I love you. To everyone reading this, of any race, creed, sexuality, or political party, including those who have tried to bully me with name-calling, I love you. … And in the sole motivation of pure love, I hope you’ll join me in sharing God’s hope for all the world this Christmas season. Call that my Christmas wish.”
Though Sweetin did not address the Great American Family comments made by Bure, she did tell Entertainment Tonight in December 2022 that she has “always been an outspoken ally for LGBTQ communities,” and that she has “always tried to fight for equality and love for everyone.”
“I feel like if you have a voice and you have a platform, it is incumbent on you to be loud and use it,” she continued. “Whether people like it all the time or not, sometimes.”
