The Shady Side Of Candace Cameron Bure Everyone Ignores

Television viewers watched Candace Cameron Bure grow up before their eyes. As a child actor in the early 1980s, she worked on an array of TV shows, including "St. Elsewhere," "Punky Brewster," and others. That led to her being cast in "Full House," playing D.J. Tanner until the series ended in 1995. The following year, she married Valeri Bure, a Russian hockey player who played with several NHL teams until his retirement in 2005.

For the next decade or so, she toiled away in television guest spots and made-for-TV movies as she transitioned from teenage roles to adult ones. In 2008, she starred in "Moonlight & Mistletoe," the first of many movies she'd make for the Hallmark Channel. That eventually led to her own Hallmark franchise, "The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries," in addition to a Netflix reboot of "Full House," titled "Fuller House." Around the same time, Bure took a left turn of sorts when she spent two seasons on "The View," serving as the conservative voice on the all-female panel. 

After a decade of success with Hallmark, Bure flew the coop, signing an exclusive deal with upstart competitor Great American Family. For anyone paying attention, the circumstances surrounding that move were steeped in controversy. In fact, that was hardly the first time that she and controversy had walked hand-in-hand. To find out more, keep reading for a look at the shady side of Candace Cameron Bure that everyone ignores.

Despite the fact that Candace Cameron Bure and Raven-Symone were former child stars who appeared on beloved TV sitcoms, they clashed frequently when they appeared together on "The View" due to the former's conservative views and the latter's recent declaration of being an out lesbian.

That opposition came into focus during a 2015 episode when the panel discussed an Oregon bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. When the former "Cosby Show" actor described the bakery's stance as straight-out discrimination, Bure disagreed. 'This is about freedom of association, it's about constitutional rights, it's about First Amendment rights," she said. "We do still have the right to choose who we associate with. Her co-host, giving her a side-eye glance the whole time, fired back, "I refuse to associate myself with you right now."

Bure continued, stating that the bakery owners had no problem with the couple but objected to their same-sex wedding ceremony because it conflicted with their religious beliefs. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg, however, wasn't buying it. "Were they invited to the wedding?" Goldberg asked incredulously. Cameron Bure responded by insisting the bakers were simply expressing their belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Not surprisingly, Bure would later reveal that she shared the view of the bakery owners, a position that would eventually see her in hot water.

Back in 2017, Candace Cameron Bure posted a photo of herself on Instagram, attired in a t-shirt bearing the phrase, "NOT TODAY SATAN." Cameron Bure may or may not have been aware that phrase had been popularized — and extensively merchandised — by Bianca Del Rio, who won the sixth season of "RuPaul's Drag Race." The flamboyant drag queen — who also goes by Roy Haylock — wasn't having it and issued a scathing response. "IF ONLY, THIS HOMOPHOBIC, REPUBLICAN KNEW........." Del Rio wrote in the caption, accompanying the same photo shared by Cameron Bure.

Del Rio later shared the response that had been received by Bure, who had apparently been besieged online by people calling her out for what they perceived — as did Del Rio — her homophobia. "Why do you have to be nasty to me? You don't know me or my heart," Bure wrote. "I'm not homophobic. Loving Jesus doesn't mean I hate gay people or anyone." She continued by accusing Del Rio of marshaling an online army of trolls to attack her. "You sent a bunch of hateful people to my page writing horrible things," she complained.

In many cases throughout her career, Candace Cameron Bure's staunchly conservative views and fundamentalist religious beliefs have led to criticism. Ironically, in 2020, she was struck with backlash over concerns that she wasn't being conservative enough. The issue at hand was a photo that she'd posted on Instagram, featuring her posing with husband, Valeri Bure. What made the pic distinctive, however, was that the NHL star had his arm wrapped around his wife's shoulder, with the palm of his hand resting upon one of her breasts.

As Page Six reported, she was slammed by her social media followers, who deemed the couple's display of PDA to be, at best, sending a bad message or, at worst, downright immoral. Understandably stung by the criticism, she removed the offending photo. However, she eventually had a change of heart, reposting the photo on Instagram Stories along with some brief videos rebuking those who lashed out at her.

"For all of the Christians that are questioning my post with my husband's hand on my boob — my husband of 24 years — thinking it was inappropriate, it makes me laugh because it's my husband. We have so much fun together," she said via the Daily Mail. "He can touch me any time he wants, and I hope he does. This is what a healthy, good marriage and relationship is all about."

Over the years, it's become something of a grim gallows-humor observation that whenever a horrific mass shooting occurs in the U.S., politicians who oppose gun-control legislation will typically respond by sending their "thoughts and prayers" to the loved ones of the victims. That was at the heart of an Instagram post issued by actor Kristen Bell, who congratulated Dick's Sporting Goods for making the move to raise the age limit to 21 in order to purchase firearms. "Here's an example of something better than thoughts and prayers," Bell wrote. "Bravo, @dickssportinggoods for your common sense, humanity, open ears and willingness to change. We need more corporations like you."

Bell's words unexpectedly rankled Candace Cameron Bure, and she issued a comment responding to Bell's post. "How about instead of diminishing prayers (which are powerful), you re-caption 'in addition to prayers' here is something really great...." she wrote, as reported by Yahoo! Entertainment. 

Bell did not respond to Bure's comment.

Candace Cameron Bure experienced what was arguably her strangest controversy in 2021 when she took to TikTok to share a video that she apparently intended to be spiritually inspirational. In that video (which she chose to delete, although excerpts live on), Bure lip-synced to "Jealous Girl" from singer Lana Del Rey as she brandished a Bible. "When they don't know the power of the Holy Spirit," read the caption overlaid atop the video.

As TooFab reported, she was deluged with comments from those who were appalled by what they'd just witnessed. "The Holy Spirit isn't seductive. What is this???" wrote one commenter, while another added, "Sensualizing your belief in the Holy Spirit? Kinda missing the mark here."

She quickly responded via Instagram Stories (via Entertainment Tonight). "I usually don't apologize for these things but a lot of you thought it was weird and I'm sorry. That was not my intention," she said, insisting that those who'd criticized her misinterpreted her attempt to bring some relevance to Biblical principles in the era of TikTok. "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.

Candace Cameron Bure spearheaded efforts to revive "Full House," resulting in Netflix picking up the spinoff series "Fuller House." In 2018, a new character was introduced, Casey. Played by Miss Benny, Casey was the first gay character to appear in "Full House" franchise — but only stuck around for two episodes, never to be seen again.

In 2023, Miss Benny — who went on to star alongside "Sex and the City" alum Kim Cattrall in the Netflix comedy "Glamorous," and later came out as transgender — made a stunning claim. Appearing in a video posted on TikTok (which was subsequently deleted), she alleged that the character had been intended to recur throughout the series but faced opposition from someone on the show. "I remember I got sat down by the writers and the studio to basically warn me how this person allegedly was trying to get the character removed and not have a queer character on the show," she said via Entertainment Weekly. While Miss Benny didn't identify who that person was, one of the hashtags added to the clip was #CandaceCameronBure.

However, Bure denied she had anything to do with Miss Benny's "Fuller House" ouster. "I never asked Miss Benny's character to be removed from 'Fuller House' and did not ask the writers, producers or studio executives to not have queer characters on the show," she said in a statement to People.

During the 2019 holiday season, Hallmark Channel yanked a scheduled TV commercial featuring a same-sex couple. The backlash was so severe that the network's head honcho, Bill Abbott, was replaced; since then, Hallmark Channel has increased efforts to add more diversity to its programming, debuting two gay-themed Christmas movies in 2023.

Abbott then formed GAC Media, which acquired the little-watched cable channel Great American Country. Rebranded as Great American Family Network, this new entity began creating Hallmark-style programming, even poaching numerous Hallmark stars. In April 2022, Variety reported that Candace Cameron Bure — who'd churned out so many Hallmark holiday movies she earned the nickname "the Queen of Christmas" — had cut ties with Hallmark and joined GAC Media, installed as GAC's chief creative officer.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal later that year, Bure implied that the reason she left Hallmark for GAC was the former's foray into gay-friendly programming. "I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core," she said, explaining that the company's Christian values aligned with her own. Bure's statements were met with furious backlash, forcing Abbott to step in and do damage control. "It's like the disclaimer you see at the end of a movie or a series that says, 'The views reflected here are not necessarily those of the company' ... when she speaks on that, she's not speaking on behalf of Great American Media," Abbott told Variety of Bure's incendiary comments.

Candace Cameron Bure's comments about "traditional marriage" set off a firestorm among those who interpreted that phrase as being homophobic. And it wasn't just average folks taking umbrage.

"One Tree Hill" alum Hilarie Burton, who'd appeared in the Hallmark rom-com "Surprised by Love," bashed Bure in some scathing tweets. "Now they're just openly admitting their bigotry," Burton wrote. "I called this s*** out years ago when Abbott was at Hallmark. Glad they dumped him ... That guy and his network are disgusting." She continued by lumping Bure into that same category, adding, "You too Candy. There is nothing untraditional about same-sex couples." Burton followed that with another tweet, blasting Bure with both barrels.  "Bigot. I don't remember Jesus liking hypocrites like Candy," she wrote, along with a few choice words accusing Bure of greed.

Two days later, Bure responded with a lengthy Instagram post addressing the criticism. Rather than take ownership of what she'd said, she instead slammed the media for "using this opportunity to fan flames of conflict and hate ..." She also listed a list of people whom she claimed to love, including "those who hate what I value and are attacking me online," plus "those who have tried to assassinate my character," and even "those who have tried to bully me with name-calling."

Candace Cameron Bure's comments about "traditional marriage" continued to resonate and even reverberated with one of her "Full House" and "Fuller House" co-stars. Jodie Sweetin — who portrayed her onscreen sister, Stephanie Tanner, and also starred in some Hallmark Channel movies — shared her thoughts on Bure's remarks when she reposted a social media message from actor Holly Robinson Peete — who, like Sweetin and Bure, has also appeared in her fair share of Hallmark movies.

"There was a time when the words 'tradition' and 'traditional' were used to denigrate others ... And to justify discriminatory laws like it wasn't 'traditional' for people to marry interracially," Peete wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post, reported Us Weekly. "So when we hear the words 'traditional' marriage to describe one type of marriage, it belittles the love and commitment that many legally married people have for each other and it triggers many of us to a time that we remember how the word 'tradition' was cloaked in Christianity and we were basically told that God didn't want equality for all."

Out-and-proud pop star JoJo Siwa shared an anecdote about meeting Candace Cameron Bure when she was a kid, and it was not pretty. In a 2022 TikTok post, Siwa answered rapid-fire questions from fans; in response to a query about the "rudest celebrity" she'd ever encountered, she displayed a photo of Bure on her phone. Headlines were made, and Bure responded in a video shared on Instagram. Revealing she had no recollection of what had happened, she got in touch with Siwa, who related the details. According to Bure, Siwa — a huge "Full House" fan — told her she'd approached her on a red carpet when she was just 11 and asked if she'd pose for a photo with her — but Bure refused. However, Bure added, they talked it out, "and there's no drama."

Siwa later clarified that she held no ill will toward Bure. "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," Siwa told Page Six. "It just, you know, it was a rough experience for me."

Siwa's mom, Jessalyn Siwa, recalled the incident in an episode of her podcast. "At the end of the day this story, it's not about a simple photo it's about how you treat people," she wrote in a caption accompanying a clip that she shared on Instagram.

It's no secret that Candace Cameron Bure's public image took a huge hit after sharing her views on "traditional" marriage. While that seems to be an obvious case of cause and effect — say something guaranteed to offend a wide swath of people and then sit back and wait for the backlash — she didn't quite see it that way. From her perspective, the lousy PR she'd received wasn't because of what she'd said\ but because she'd been targeted by the so-called cancel culture.

"Cancel culture is real and it is difficult," Bure declared during a 2023 appearance on the "Unapologetic" podcast. To combat this scourge, Bure suggested that those with beliefs similar to her own band together in a show of force in order to stop cancel culture dead in its tracks. "And it's hard, but listen — I just want to encourage you that you are not the only one, and there are lots of us, and we are always stronger together," she added.

When Paris hosted the Summer Olympics in 2024, tradition was broken by holding the opening ceremony on the Seine instead of within a stadium. Reviews for the boldly creative opening were largely positive. "Paris' Olympics Opening Ceremony Was the Best in Years and Years," declared a headline in IndieWire, while Time described the spectacle as "occasionally weird, wildly ambitious, ultimately wonderful, and extremely French."

The ceremony did not receive a rave from Candace Cameron Bure, who was taken aback by a controversial segment that featured drag queens in a tableau seemingly inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's iconic mural "The Last Supper," but featuring the pagan god Dionysus. She let her opinion be known in a video she posted to Instagram, explaining that she'd always found the Olympics to be inspiring. "So to watch such an incredible and wonderful event that's going to take place over the next two weeks, and see the opening ceremony completely blaspheme and mock the Christian faith with their interpretation of 'The Last Supper' was disgusting," she proclaimed. "It made me so sad."

Bure was dragged by fellow "Full House" alum Jodie Sweetin, who issued a post via Instagram Stories commenting on a video about people who'd misunderstood the intent of that part of the ceremony. "Tell me you don't know about art or history without TELLING me you don't know about art or history," she wrote, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.