Lori Loughlin’s crimes rehashed in Candace Cameron Bure’s ‘traditional marriage’ controversy

When Candace Cameron Bure said this week that she didn’t expect her new TV home, the Great American Family network, to feature LGBTQ story lines in its Christmas movies because its content would focus on “traditional marriage,”  she put her friend Lori Loughlin in the hot seat.

Loughlin is one of the new stars of the Tennessee-based Christian network, and she’s set to appear in her first TV movie since 2018, after her once-wholesome “Full House” image was shattered by her role in the national college admissions scandal.

Given Bure’s role in shaping content for GAF as its chief creative officer, it’s likely that she helped recruit Loughlin to the network, with idea of giving her former “Full House” colleague the opportunity to revive her career after she pleaded guilty in the bribery scandal in 2020 and served time in federal prison.

But Bure’s comments to the Wall Street Journal this week, about how “Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core,” have incited intense backlash from Hollywood’s LGBTQ community and its allies.

Bure’s remarks also have put Loughlin — and her felonious efforts to get her underqualified daughters fraudulently admitted to the University of Southern California — back in the spotlight. People shared angry comments on an Instagram photo Bure posted Nov. 7, which showed her with Loughlin and other GAF stars, smiling and waving to fans.

FULL HOUSE stars Candace Cameron Bure, Lori Loughlin and Andrea Barber reunited for @GAfamilyTV‘s holiday photoshoot: https://t.co/NatCIt59dr pic.twitter.com/h8oU0L39n7

— Decider (@decider) November 13, 2022

People questioned how Bure and GAF can say they represent positive, moral values when the network happily employs Loughlin, but, as they say Bure suggested, discriminates against LGBTQ people.

“If Lori is there, I will not watch. She is a BAD ROLE MODEL,” one person said.

“I am NOT okay with Lori being there,” said another. “My son started college when that scandal broke. What her family did is not right. Where are the Great American Family values?”

“Wait Lori? So like a gay family isn’t great, but a family that commits a felony to get ahead is? Noted,” said someone else.

Bure sought to defend herself Wednesday, in part by accusing the media of parsing her words in ways to provoke outrage.

“It absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone,” Bure wrote on Instagram Wednesday afternoon. “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.”

Bure and Loughlin’s friendship goes back at least to when the actors first co-starred on the beloved family sitcom “Full House” in the late 1980s and 1990s. They also both became marquee names for the Hallmark Channel, with Bure gaining the moniker the “Queen of Christmas.” Given Bure’s remarks to the Wall Street Journal, there’s speculation that she left Hallmark for GAF over concerns that the former was becoming more  “inclusive” in its programming, including by releasing its first holiday movie with an LGBTQ couple as the leads.

Meanwhile, Bure apparently stuck by Loughlin, as “Aunt Becky” served two months in Dublin’s Federal Correctional Institution in late 2020. Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, had pleaded guilty to paying $500,000 in bribes to get daughters Olivia Jade and Isabella admitted to USC on the false pretense of being crew team athletes.

Bure said in a 2021 interview that she and Loughlin have stayed in contact. “Yes, I’ve talked to Lori (Loughlin) many times. And she’s doing well,” Bure said.

Loughlin’s movie for GAF network, “Fall Into Winter,” began production in October and is set to premiere in January 2023. Loughlin and Bure also are longtime colleagues of Bill Abbott, the new CEO of Great American Media who left as Hallmark’s CEO following a 2019 controversy over an ad that featured a same-sex couple kissing, The Wrap reported.

“Lori is a genre-defining star that I have had the honor to call a close friend and collaborator for more than 15 years,” Abbott said in a statement, when announcing her new show in September, People reported. “I look forward to welcoming her back to Great American Family to anchor our 2023 winter programming slate.”

In the midst of the backlash over Bure’s comments in Wall Street Journal story, which was headlined, “Candace Cameron Bure Wants to Put Christianity Back in Christmas Movies,” some people defended Loughlin and the GAF for giving her a second chance. They noted that Loughlin expressed remorse for her crimes in court and served her time.

But others correctly pointed out that Loughlin and her husband spent more than a year after being charged in March 2019, insisting on their innocence and claiming they were victims of malicious prosecution. Evidence in the case also showed that Loughlin and Giannulli enlisted their daughters in the scheme by having them pose as crew athletes for photos to be submitted with their USC applications and sought to silence a counselor at the girls’ high school who raised “red flags” about false information in those applications.

“Wow I guess your values also align with someone who lied and cheated to give her kids something they didn’t earn while other kids and parents were busting their asses doing it the right way,” someone wrote on Bure’s Instagram post. “Oh and she was indignant not apologetic the whole time. Yes we see the networks and your values very clearly.”