Courtesy of Neal Bledsoe Neal Bledsoe
After Neal Bledsoe announced that he was leaving Great American Family due to concerns about inclusivity, a number of Hallmark stars stepped out to show their support. Here’s a look at what Bledsoe and his colleagues said.
Bledsoe Shared His Statement on Instagram
Bledsoe shared his statement in an Instagram post, after giving the statement exclusively to Variety first. He said he was distancing himself from GAF, after appearing in two movies, because the LGBTQIA+ community is very important to him.
“My life wouldn’t be where it is today without the love, support, and guidance of the LGBTQIA+ community,” he told Variety. As such, he couldn’t continue to show support for the network after recent statements went viral.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Candace Cameron Bure was asked if GAF holiday movies might include same-sex relationships in the future. She said: “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.” In an Instagram post replying to the controversy, Bure said, in part, that not everything she shared was included in The Wall Street Journal story.
Bill Abbott, CEO of Great American Media, told The Wall Street Journal when asked the same: “It’s certainly the year 2022, so we’re aware of the trends. There’s no whiteboard that says, ‘Yes, this’ or ‘No, we’ll never go here.’”
In his own statement, Bledsoe didn’t name Bure or Abbott. He said that while everyone is entitled to their beliefs, he believes that “the recent comments made by leadership at Great American Family are hurtful, wrong, and reflect an ideology that prioritizes judgment over love.”
The issue isn’t the freedom to express beliefs that he disagrees with, he told Variety, but “someone in an executive position speaking about deliberate exclusion.”
Hallmark Stars Shared Their Support for Bledsoe
In response to Bledsoe’s Instagram post, which included part of his statement, a number of stars voiced their support.
Nikki DeLoach replied: “❤️🙏🏼❤️.”
Andrew Walker wrote: “❤️.”
Ashley Williams replied, “Yes yes.”
Julie Gonzalo wrote: “Well said friend 👏👏.”
Torrey DeVitto also replied with a simple “❤️.”
Erin Cahill replied, “💗🙏💗.”
Kimberly Williams Paisley wrote, “👏🏻👏🏻❤️❤️❤️YES.”
Antonio Cayonne replied, “I so deeply appreciate your point of view, your language, your convictions, and your intentional use of your ‘platform’. It takes people like you doing things like this. Stay loud friend.”
Bledsoe just starred in a new Christmas movie on GAF opposite Danica McKellar called “Christmas at the Drive-In.” McKellar released her own statement about inclusivity just before Thanksgiving, writing that she’s a new Christian and believes in “all forms of healthy love between adults.”
“My husband and I were privileged to attend my good friend’s beautiful wedding to his husband earlier this year in Mexico,” she wrote.
She added that she supports representation, and “as far as I can tell, Jesus loves and includes everyone. That’s kind of His thing…”
Earlier this year, Bledsoe starred opposite McKellar in GAC Family’s “The Winter Palace.” He’s starred in Hallmark films too, including “Coming Home for Christmas” opposite McKellar and “A Christmas Carousel” opposite Rachel Boston. His other credits include “The Blacklist,” “Killer Whales,” “Younger,” “Agents of SHIELD,” “Shameless,” and more.