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This is another reminder that you Christmas romance movie-loving people (no shame in that, I watch them with my mom) should be sticking to Lifetime and now Netflix. Netflix has a good amount of movies in this genre, surprisingly. As you may recall, Hallmark caved to the hate group One Million Moms and pulled a commercial featuring a same sex wedding and a chaste wedding kiss. After the well-deserved backlash and a call for boycotts, Hallmark reinstated the ads and issued a statement about it. Their statement said that they’re about celebrating “all people” and that they think it was the wrong decision, but they did not mention inclusion, the LGBTQ community, or diversity at all because that’s not what Hallmark is about. They’re about white straight people. They do have some movies featuring leads who are POC but they only started doing that LAST YEAR.
Anyway actress Hilarie Burton showed some awesome receipts in the wake of that story, saying that she’d asked for a diverse cast and LGBTQ inclusion while in talks for a role with Hallmark. Hallmark told her to take it or leave it and she decided to walk away. She made it clear that she was privileged to be in that position since her now-husband, married Jeffrey Dean Morgan, works. Hallmark issued a response to Hilarie and it was quite brief and cold. Here’s what they said:
A rep for the network told Fox News: “Hilarie Burton was not an employee of Crown Media Family Networks.”
Of course they talked to Fox News. Hallmark did this because Hilarie’s comments are finally getting traction. (I follow her on Twitter which is how I saw this earlier.) This says so much about Hallmark. They couldn’t even say “we’re sorry she had that experience, while it was not what we remember, we respect her as an actress…” or something like that. Just acknowledge what she went through or reinstate your commitment to diversity and inclusion. Hallmark can’t do that because they don’t care about that at all. Ten bucks says they issue a slightly more wordy comment that still says nothing about Hilarie’s very valid, very obviously needed concerns.
The cast of When Calls The Heart, that ongoing Hallmark series that Lori Loughlin got canned from, have seemingly responded to the controversy over their employer pulling that ad. Several key castmembers posted Instagram photos of themselves making a heart with their hands and the caption “Love for All.” That was nice.
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One of Dolly’s Heartstring episodes was inclusive of a gay couple. Hallmark might need to talk to Dolly about how its done.
Dolly for president! She can do no wrong.
Can’t say no to Dolly. I’ll watch her elsewhere, but that’s good to hear.
I stopped watching Hallmark…YEARS ago when I saw how AGGRESSIVELY White they started going in terms of their movies…and now that I can watch my beloved “Golden Girls” on so many other platforms…I pay the Hallmark network the same dust that they pay the citizens of this country by pretending like large segments don’t even exist….
Lala you got COTW on our podcast this week for another comment about Greta Gerwig!
@CELEBITCHY!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM PLOTZING…AND SCREAMING…….I’MA TELL EVERYBODY!!! I haven’t been on Twitter since Kamala (just typing this makes tears jump into my eyes)…got out of the POTUS debacle…but I’ma go on and shout this TO THE MOUNTAINTOPS!
Y’all are my DELIGHTFUL ESCAPE!
Downtown Kansas City is like walking in to a Hallmark movie. Their headquarters, visitors’ center/museum, Crown Center (massive mall) and the hotels and business that have aligned themselves with them, Halls department store. Even as a whie woman – it’s so ‘skin crawling’ creepy; like standing in the middle of this conversation .
OMG, I have THOUGHTS about Missouri, having just moved here from NY. I have a white friend in Kansas City and it is as you said– so white. So white that I, a white girl, am like, whoa. Churchgoing, Fox News watching, Thank You for Your Service saying, Yoga Mat carrying, Concerned Looks at Unmarried Women Without Children giving white. I live in St. Louis on the “black” side of the Delmar line (It’s seriously a thing) and work in Clayton, which is even more of the same. So it’s like every day I travel from Black America to White America, and it’s crazy the things you see. As much as I stick out and am told it’s unsafe to move around my neighborhood, people on this side of the Delmar line are really warm and kind. Very few white people use public transportation. I never see non-white servers in Clayton, they’re always the bussers or maybe a host. Every white friend I’ve made has no black friends and if they meet mine they are visibly uncomfortable. White people are hair trigger about any implication that there is racism in St. Louis. The only integration point I’ve managed to find in the past six months is the arts scene, maybe because black art dominates in this city. I dunno, this has been a really eye opening experience. I can see how Ferguson happened.
Wait where can I watch the Golden Girls?! I watch them on Logo on Monday/Friday nights and Saturday afternoons and then on TV Land on Sundays. Are they streaming somewhere?!!!
I only watch Hallmark because of the Golden Girls but they are always changing the schedule or playing 6 months of christmas movies.
I don’t have cable, cut the cord years ago, but the Golden Girls are now on Hulu. Hopefully forever.
@LALA – I’m also a huge GG fan and I’m following suite. They’ve been on hiatus since the end of October so I haven’t been watching the channel anyway, but no going back in January.
One million moms = One million hateful bigots.
Lmao they WISH they had one million hateful bigots. Their Twitter account has fewer than 5,000 followers. A+ For branding, though, it really does convince people they have a million people trying to “protect their children from filth” like loving gay couples, as opposed to the violent rape and murder they teach their children at church.
*eye*roll*
They are the worst, and yes, WAAAAY smaller than their moniker claims. Laughably smaller.
Ugh, Hallmark. Now I am seeing a ton of their ads (because, you know, cookies) and it’s all so saccharine and fakey.
No slam on the genuine Christians who practice what they preach! But Corporate Christianity is a blight more often than not. Once it becomes all about the Benjamins… well, it says that in the bible anyway so I won’t go on.
I’m glad to see this story isn’t going away. Their tepid, passive aggressive response truly shows their colors.
And Hilarie taking a stand shows hers. I’m going to look out for her future projects! Thanks for covering this. Something positive!
“Hilarie Burton was not an employee of Crown Media Family Networks.” — Yeah, no sh-t. She just told us about how she didn’t work for you.
Right!? That was the dumbest attempt at a defense.
I applaud Hilarie for putting all this out there. And on a superficial note, she looks gorgeous with darker hair.
It would have been smarter for them to say nothing! Sad.
Plotzing. I love it. I’m quite verbal about hating romcoms, but I acquiesce (a bit) during Christmas lol. I usually try to fit a few between Middle Earth, Hogwarts, a galaxy far far away, Dickinson and the Grinch. I’ll be sure to ignore Hallmark.
This response… sounds about white.
With others getting in on the Christmas movie game, Hallmark is becoming irrelevant and this is hurrying that along.
WE KNOW, HALLMARK. WE READ WHAT SHE SAID.
These people really are stupid. Hilarie said “look, I was going to be employed by them but I asked for x and y, they balked, and I peaced out”.
Their statement doesn’t refute what she said, like at all. So why bother?
Okay, insider info here, as I work with Hallmark. I by no means want to make an apology for what they did or how they handled it. But I do want to clarify that Hallmark does not make its own films — they purchase their content from third party production companies (mainly Canadian). Sometimes the network has some creative input or control before/during the film is made, but often the films are already made before they purchase them.
The requests we consistently get from Hallmark are for films with more diversity, less widows, females in STEM careers (no bakeries!), divorcées, etc. but what the writers keep sending and the production companies keep making is the same old stuff because that’s what Hallmark is known for. So it’s this tricky thing where their kitschy/vanilla reputation attracts more of the same from creative talent. (And when you’re making 80 low-budget films a year, you can’t afford to be super picky.) So Hilarie was probably negotiating with a production company, not Hallmark, hence the statement, which was weirdly short and awkward. I love Lifetime’s commitment to diversity, but they are working with production companies who also make “My Boyfriend Killed the Cheer Coach” movies so they have a more progressive talent pool. Also, Hallmark shoots for G rating and Lifetime does PG Christmas movies. Not a big difference, but does attract different scripts, production companies, etc.
Hallmark definitely has a hard-core evangelical fan base, which is growing faster than its other audiences, mostly thanks to “When Calls the Heart”. HM went from being a station with movies so predictable Grandma can bake cookies while she watches to being a station where ultra conservatives can avoid being offended. I don’t think they love that shift, but it’s contributed to their massive success in recent years and money talks.
Finally, I’ve had nothing but a positive experience with HM and have worked with many LGBT cast members, crew and employees, so HM is not discriminating on that end (when they have a say). And they have been supportive of its employees and talent speaking out against the decision, which more is more than some companies would allow.
Also an insider here. I live in Canada (the part where 99% of these Hallmark films are made). I have been a movie extra for 17 years (I am also an entertainment lawyer). I am on set now every few months to get out of the office. I am also a woman of colour. Every time the extras try to interracially mingle in the scene, we are told by directors that hallmark doesnt want interracial couples being seen. They generally segregate us and have the black extras couple up with the black extras and the white extras with the whites. I would say this has been going on for 15 years at least. These directives are coming from the top down (ie Hallmark execs) not by script writers or movie pitchers. There have been times when movie extras have walked off sets because of this. I remember a few extras were crying because they couldnt believe it was 2019 and this was still going on. There have been some very raw moments on set as an extra. P.S. I have personally worked with Lori Laughlin about a dozen times.
Lori Laughlin stories, please!
WT actual F? That boggles the mind, especially when you’re seeing much more diversity in other media. Way to cling to the 1950s, you sad, sad people! Glad this kind of thing is being highlighted these days, so we can all make better choices now.
Not many stories to share about Lori. She was pretty down to earth. She would come to crafty like the other actors. She was polite to everyone. On set, she had a good work ethic- always remembered her lines and was courteous. Now the conditions on hallmark sets are another story. I dont accept hallmark movies anymore because the conditions are deplorable (little to no breaks, the holding areas for extras are horrendous, the craft service was terrible, the third ADs/2nd ADs were always in bad moods, etc.
If this is the case, a statement outlining this relationship would have been so much more effective!
You’re not much of an insider if you think Hallmark, “mostly purchases its films” … Hallmark is in control of every aspect of their movies, from script to casting. The bulk of their content, 85% of the 100+ movies they’ll air this year, are produced by Crown Media, a.k.a. Hallmark, NOT acquisitions. Even movies they do acquire must undergo edits to comply with Hallmark’s storytelling standards.
Agreed
Lmao, they seem even more tone deaf now. Good job, Hallmark! Can’t even manage some fakey PR apology.
Just remembered why I’ve always loved Hilarie…ever since she was an MTV vj getting groped by Ben Asshat.
Doesn’t surprise me to learn Hallmark is a bigoted network. I’ve never made it more than ten minutes into their movies because they’re HORRIBLE. Hilarie has too much talent to slum it with them anyway. Last time I went into a Hallmark Store I was disgusted by their high prices and the fact that a store clerk handed me a religious tract when she realized that the guy I was shopping with wasn’t my husband but instead my gay friend looking for HIS husband’s yearly Christmas ornament (their tradition). I consider myself a liberal Christian (I believe in God, Jesus and all that but I also expect to hang out with my gay friends in Heaven) but I swear when she handed me that… I almost handed my fist to her face, turning the other cheek be damned.