After she made the comment in a Wall Street Journal interview published on November 14, several stars took to social media to slam Candace.
“Bigot. I don’t remember Jesus liking hypocrites like Candy,” Hilarie Burton wrote via Twitter in response to an article summarizing the interview. “But sure. Make your money, honey. You ride that prejudice wave all the way to the bank.”
Meanwhile, JoJo Siwa took to Instagram to call out the former Full Housestar for the interview. “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,” the Dance Moms alum wrote on November 15. “This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”
Candace eventually addressed the criticism via Instagram on November 16. “It absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone,” she wrote. “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.”
Her comment about representing same-sex marriage on screen is not the first time Candace has faced backlash.
She has been criticized for her conservative views and admitted that she felt “pressure” to represent conservatives on TV while working as a panelist on The View from 2015 until 2016.
“The stress and the anxiety — I actually have a pit in my stomach right now,” she said while appearing on the “Behind the Table” podcast in October 2021. “There was only one type of stress that I’ve ever felt in my life, that came from that show. And I [have] PTSD, like, I can feel it. It was so difficult, and to manage that emotional stress was very, very hard.”
Candace chose to leave the show one month after Donald Trump won the presidential election in November 2016 because she felt that defending her political positions would become even more difficult.
Keep scrolling to take a look back at Candace’s most controversial moments over the years.
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WEDDING CAKE COMMENTS
During a July 2015 episode of The View, Candace made headlines when she seemingly defended an Oregon bakery that refused to make a cake for a lesbian wedding. “I don’t think this is discrimination at all. This is about freedom of association,” she said on the talk show. “It’s about constitutional rights. It’s about First Amendment rights. We do have the right to still choose who we associate with.”
The debate heated up when her cohost Raven-Symoné cut her off. “I refuse to associate with you right now,” the That’s So Raven alum said.
However, Candace didn’t back down and argued that the bakery had the right to turn down the business. “They didn’t refuse to bake the cake because of [the couple’s] sexual orientation. In fact, they baked cakes for them previously,” she said. “They had a problem with the actual ceremony because that — the ceremony — is what conflicted with their religious beliefs. They are saying that they stand for marriage between a man and a woman.”
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Courtesy of Candace Cameron Bure/Instagram
‘NOT TODAY, SATAN’
Candace was slammed by RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio after she wore a shirt with the drag queen’s catchphrase, “Not today, Satan.” “IF ONLY, THIS HOMOPHOBIC, REPUBLICAN KNEW,” Bianca wrote via Instagram in March 2017.
The Dancing With the Starsalum defended her choice to wear the shirt by responding to Bianca’s post. “Why do you have to be nasty to me? You don’t know me or my heart. I’m not homophobic and always sad when people think otherwise. Loving Jesus doesn’t mean I hate gay people or anyone,” she wrote. “You sent a bunch of hateful people to my page writing horrible things. I hope next time you’ll spread love and kindness, even when you disagree with people. Sending you love and wish you all the best. Truly.”
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RELIGIOUS TIKTOK
In July 2021, Candace was forced to apologize to fans after she posted a TikTok video in which she talked about “the power of the Holy Spirit” while performing a dance with her Bible.
“I just came home and read a lot of messages that were not happy with my latest Instagram post that was a TikTok video. And I usually don’t apologize for these things, but a lot of you thought it was weird, and I’m sorry,” the Switched for Christmas star said via Instagram. “That was not my intention. I was using a very specific clip from TikTok and applying it to the power of the Holy Spirit, which is incredible.”
Candace added that she took down the video after some fans deemed it as inappropriate. “And so many of you thought that I was trying to be seductive, which clearly means I’m not a very good actress because I was trying to be strong, not sexy or seductive,” she explained. “So I guess that didn’t work, but I deleted it.”
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MORE TIKTOK BACKLASH
She once again made headlines in October 2021 after posting a video via TikTok in which she reflected on what it’s like to work in the entertainment industry as someone that is politically conservative. The video captured her lip-synching to a RuPaul’s Drag Race clip, stating: “Is it me? Am I the drama? I don’t think I’m the drama. Maybe I am. Am I the villain? I don’t think I’m the villain.” The California native captioned the video, “When you’re a conservative in Hollywood.”
One day later, the VH1 series’ account hit back at Candace by posting the original clip from the show. “When your audio lands on the wrong side of TikTok & they have no idea,” the account captioned the post.
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UVALDE REACTION
Candace responded to followers who criticized her for not publicly speaking out against the gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022.
“I wanted — actually, I didn’t want to come on here, but I am because, you know, seeing what happened in our country — all of us process things differently, and some of us need more time to process it,” she said through tears in an Instagram video. “Some of us are ready to scream and yell and shout from the rooftops. Some of us need to just feel more and figure out when we feel ready to share those feelings. I am a deep feeler, and I don’t always feel like social media is the place I want to run to first to share my heart, particularly when it’s grieving, and so that’s why I’ve been silent.”
The Make It or Break It actress then argued that it wasn’t “right to jump to conclusions” when someone doesn’t post on social media in response to major events. “I don’t believe silence or lack of posting is a representation of what someone is thinking, feeling or doing,” Candace said. “The more and more I have this relationship with social media, there are things I love about it, but there’s a lot that I really am pulling away from and that is sharing certain things — particularly when it comes to tragedy, grief, politics, and a lot of social issues that our country disagrees on.”
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JOJO SIWA FEUD
JoJo revealed that Candace was “the rudest celebrity I’ve ever met” in a viral TikTok video posted in July 2022 after the former Hallmark star denied her request to take a photo when she was younger.
The Nickelodeon star went on to recall the “rough encounter” with Candace in a video obtained byPage Six.“I was 11, and I was a big, big fan, and I wanted to take a picture with her, and it wasn’t a good time for her,” she said.
“I will say because I had a bad experience, that doesn’t mean that she is an awful human,” JoJo continued. “I think it just was an inconvenient time for her, and little 11-year-old me was just so pumped up and so excited, but that doesn’t mean she’s the worst human ever.”
One day after JoJo revealed the alleged experience, Candace claimed she was “shocked” when she saw the viral video. “[I] had no idea where it came from … I didn’t know what happened, I didn’t know,” she said, adding that she spoke to JoJo.
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John Salangsang/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
ADDRESSING ‘CANCEL CULTURE’
Three months after facing backlash for her “traditional” marriage comment, Candace shared her perspective. “Cancel culture is real, and it’s difficult, and it’s hard,” the Great American Family actress said during a February 2023 appearance on the “Unapologetic With Julia Jeffress Sadler” podcast. “I know there’s all the places in the world, all different countries, where people get severely persecuted for their faith. I feel like we’ve had this cushion here in North America where someone yells at us or someone says a mean, negative thing and our feelings get so hurt over it. And that isn’t nearly the persecution that other people go through from being a Christian in other countries.” She continued, “It’s hard, no matter what. Especially when you are a compassionate person and you have a heart for people. But it’s important that we speak truth in love, ’cause, listen, nobody’s gonna change, nobody’s gonna listen to you when it comes out angry, when it comes out in a harsh way, but it’s important that we don’t back down. I am so encouraged by my own children. … I’m so proud of them for really sticking to truth and knowing the gospel and being willing to share that because I know it takes bravery, especially in the time we’re living today.”
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My take: I knew about a few attacks, but the rest of these are brand new to me. Awfully sad isn't it? That 1 of the nicest human beings you will probably meet could be so villianized online simply because she doesn't support what the freaks of society do?
She deserves all the respect there is for putting up with these mental loonies.
