Candace Cameron Bure Spilled The Shady Truth About Her Hallmark Exit

Aside from her iconic role on "Full House," Candace Cameron Bure was practically the face of the Hallmark Channel for over a decade. You couldn't think of Christmas movies without picturing her in classics like "Let It Snow," "If I Only Had Christmas," and "A Christmas Detour." From 2008 to 2022, she was practically Hallmark royalty. But suddenly, Bure decided to make a bold career move and jump ship to the Great American Family network, joining the great GAC exodus.

Bure is hardly the only celebrity who left the Hallmark Channel for GAC, but her departure hit hard because she was with Hallmark for 14 years. In April 2022, she announced her switch, gushing about how thrilled she was to join a network that shares her values. "I'm very excited to develop heartwarming family and faith-filled programming and make the kind of stories my family and I love to watch," she said in a statement. "I am constantly looking for ways that I can inspire people to live life with purpose. GAC fits my brand perfectly; we share a vision of creating compelling wholesome content for an audience who wants to watch programming for and with the whole family."

On the surface, it sounded like Bure was just chasing new opportunities, but her later comments added more details about her real reasons for jumping ship. And unsurprisingly, some of her comments have ruffled a few feathers.

Candace Cameron Bure was worlds apart from the Hallmark Channel she left. She seems to attribute it to the exit of Bill Abbott, the former president and CEO of Crown Media, Hallmark's parent company. Abbott left the company in 2020 after Hallmark yanked an ad featuring a same-sex couple, sparking quite the controversy. "It basically is a completely different network than when I started because of the change of leadership," Bure told The Wall Street Journal.

Abbott went on to create and helm GAC, while Hallmark began embracing more diverse content, including LGBTQ+ relationships. Meanwhile, GAC leaned heavily into traditional values, which was right up Bure's alley. "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 added. When asked if GAC would feature LGBTQ+ content in the future, she replied, "I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core."

These comments drew backlash, with Hilarie Burton unable to hold back her feelings, calling Bure a bigot. But the actor defended herself, insisting she never meant to alienate people. "It absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone," she said in a lengthy statement, adding that her move was because GAC was the network she always dreamed of being a part of. "I have long wanted to find a home for more faith-based programming. I am grateful to be an integral part of a young and growing network."

Aside from GAC being more her style, Candace Cameron Bure revealed that contract negotiations with Hallmark hit a snag, pushing her to seek greener pastures, and it just so happens to be GAC. "The truth is I've been under contract with Hallmark for a very, very long time. And those have been absolutely wonderful. It just so happened that my contract was expiring when Great American Family started up," she told Variety, noting that she ended up having talks with Bill Abbott, who was also her former mentor. "So we did not start having those discussions until we were well into negotiations with Hallmark Channel for renewing. And as every business person knows, you've got to do what's right for contracts. It didn't work out with Hallmark and so we started talking to Bill."

Ultimately, though, her move was all about growth. While she cherished her time at Hallmark, Bure explained on her Instagram Story that she wanted to do more than just act. "It wasn't so much about leaving as it was about an opportunity to grow a new network that puts faith and family at the forefront of its content," she said, even hinting that fans should tune in for what she has up her sleeve (via Us Weekly). "I'm more than an actor. Growth in my company as well as my achievements in business is extremely important to me."