Image Source: Getty / Paul Archuleta, Paul Archuleta, JC Olivera
JoJo Siwa is getting support for calling out Candace Cameron Bure. In a Nov. 15 Instagram post, Siwa criticized Bure’s plans to reportedly create a collection of new LGBTQ+-free movies for the network Great American Family. “Honestly, I can’t believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press,” Siwa wrote. “This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”
On Nov. 16, actor Jodie Sweetin — who starred on “Full House” and “Fuller House” alongside Bure — showed her support for Siwa, commenting “You know I love you ❤️❤️” on the influencer’s Instagram post.
Actor and executive Bure departed the Hallmark Channel for Great American Family this year, per Variety, citing her desire to create content that is “trusted” and “wholesome.” In a Nov. 14 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Bure made it clear that she plans to “put Christianity back in Christmas movies.” “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,” Bure said. “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”
A statement reps for Bure provided to POPSUGAR in response to Siwa’s post read, “I had also expressed in my interview, which was not included, that people of all ethnicities and identities have and will continue to contribute to the network in great ways both in front of and behind the camera, which I encourage and fully support.”
Hallmark has been slowly making progress in LGBTQ+ inclusion: its first Christmas movie starring a gay couple — “The Holiday Sitter” — premieres on Dec. 11 and stars “Mean Girls” actor Jonathan Bennett.
Bure’s statements have provoked commentary from more people than just Siwa and Sweetin. “Bigot,” actor Hilarie Burton Morgan wrote on Twitter. “I don’t remember Jesus liking hypocrites like Candy. But sure. Make your money, honey. You ride that prejudice wave all the way to the bank.”
This isn’t the first time Bure and Siwa have clashed. Back in July, Siwa participated in a TikTok challenge about the rudest celebrities users had ever met. Her post featured a photo of Bure in response to the prompt, per Us Weekly. Soon after the clip was shared, fans unearthed a video of Siwa and Bure on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” in which Bure described her own Christmas home-decor style as “simple and elegant” and then turned to Siwa and said, “Maybe a little different than your place.”
Bure shared her own Instagram Reel addressing Siwa’s TikTok, per Us Weekly, saying they had a “great conversation” and telling her fans that it was “all good on the JoJo front.” She also added that Siwa had apparently asked for a photo on a red carpet when she was 11, but Bure turned it down — which Siwa now understands. “She said, ‘You weren’t even mean! And I get it now, as an adult, when you’re on the red carpet and everything’s happening and you’re being pulled in different directions, but at that time I was 11,'” Bure said in the video. However, a few days later, Siwa responded by saying that wasn’t the whole story. “It was at the afterparty that she didn’t wanna take a picture with me, and I was OK with that,” Siwa told Page Six. “But then I turned around, and when I looked back, she was taking pictures with other kids. And that’s what made me really upset.”
Now, though, it seems their feud has grown much more serious. Siwa, who is currently dating content creator Avery Cyrus, is a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. “Nobody is normal. And I think a lot of times people are worried and fearful about being judged, but the truth is nobody’s really that judgmental. Everybody’s just trying to make it themselves,” Siwa said in a 2021 interview with the It Gets Better project, which supports queer youth. “I think [being themselves] makes them brave. I think that makes them awesome and cool and special and celebrated . . . It means that you’re choosing to live your life the way you want to live it and that’s OK.”