After Candace Cameron Bure made it clear that there are no plans at this time to include LGBTQ+ stories in her holiday movie lineup at Great American Family, actor Jonathan Bennett now just feels that much more proud to be involved with Hallmark where the opposite is happening. Next month, Hallmark Channel will debut The Holiday Sitter, a film that serves as the first gay-led Christmas movie made for the network. It’s a contrast to what Bure said with GAF focusing on movies that feature “traditional marriage” as part of an effort to focus primarily on faith-based content.
In The Holiday Sitter, Bennett stars as a workaholic bachelor names Sam who unexpectedly finds romance when he meets Jason (George Krissa), a neighbor of the niece and nephew Sam is babysitting during the holiday season. Speaking with E! News, Bennett addressed the controversy involving Bure by expressing his admiration for Hallmark for airing LGBTQ+ led films, which starts with The Holiday Sitter. As Bennett says:
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Bennett also teased that viewers will love The Holiday Sitter by having this to say about the Christmas movie.
The Holiday Sitter will premiere on Hallmark on Dec. 11, 2022.
Candace Cameron Bure Says She Loves Everyone
Hallmark Channel
There was a lot of controversy that Bure had conjured up when she spoke about traditional marriage on Great American Family. She later posted a statement online explaining that her comments were taken out of context and that she is not bigoted toward the LGBTQ+ community or any other group of people. She also said that people of “all ethnicities and identities” will be working on these movies and contributing to the network in other ways. Excluding LGBTQ+ content with her slate of holiday programming, according to Bure, has more to do with carving a niche on television that specifically caters to viewers with more “traditional” Christian values.
“I have long wanted to find a home for more faith-based programming,” Bure says in the statement. “I am grateful to be an integral part of a young and growing network. 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.”
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The first holiday movie to be made for Great American Family with Bure is A Christmas…Present, which is set to debut on Nov. 27, 2022.
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