JoJo Siwa Won’t Talk To Candace Cameron Bure Again: ‘Excluding People For Who They Love Is’ Lousy
‘I am being honest and maybe being a little disruptive to somebody’s life, but it’s what I believe in’, JoJo stated, backing up her decision to call Candace out for her anti-gay comments.
JoJo Siwa is standing firm with her choice to speak out against Candace Cameron Bure‘s anti-LGBTQ+ career moves. Earlier this month, Candace, 46, confirmed she left the Hallmark Channel for the Great American Family network because she believes the network “will keep traditional marriage at the core.” She also said she does not believe the network has plans to write gay leads into their films. JoJo, 19, who came out as gay in 2021, immediately hit back at the comments, calling them “rude and hurtful.” Now, in a new interview, JoJo is explaining why she called out Candace just months after they originally had beef and that she doesn’t think they’ll speak ever again.
“As I’m getting older, I’m starting to realize what an impact I really do get to have,” she told PEOPLE on Sunday, Nov. 20 at Disney+’s Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium special. “I think that’s a really cool position to be in. I am being honest and maybe being a little disruptive to somebody’s life, but it’s what I believe in.” Speaking of the support she received after speaking out, she added, “And so to have good people stand behind you with it felt really nice.”
JoJo, who previously said she was a huge fan of Candace as a child, revealed she didn’t talk to Candace about her “traditional family” comments and does not think she will ever talk to the Full House alum again. “That’s what’s f—ked up,” she bluntly stated. “You not liking gay marriage, do your thing girl. You being religious, do your thing girl. Of course, I would want everybody to do what they want to do. But to purposely exclude someone because of who they love, that’s sh—y.”
She also suggested that Candace educates herself by speaking with GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, who made the offer to Candace in a Nov. 16 tweet while condemning her purposeful exclusion of non-straight couples. “I would want her to have a conversation with GLAAD. Because even though I am educated, GLAAD is such an incredible organization,” the Dance Moms alum explained. “Sarah is a genius when it comes to the gay community. And I think that Candace having a conversation with her would be not only eye-opening to Candace but eye-opening to a whole world of people who might have those same beliefs.”
🧵It's irresponsible and hurtful for Candace Cameron Bure to use tradition as a guise for exclusion. I’d love to have a conversation with Bure about my wife, our kids, and our family’s traditions. Bure is out of sync with a growing majority of people of faith,
— Sarah Kate Ellis (@sarahkateellis) November 16, 2022
Candace’s discussion about her beliefs was published in a Wall Street Journal article on Nov. 14, and JoJo hit back with a screenshot of the article on Instagram and a caption confessing her disappointment the following day. “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,” she wrote. “This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”
Two days later, Candace released a statement in which she said she was heartbroken to hear that people think she’s a bigot. “All of you who know me, know beyond question that I have great love and affection for all people. It absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone,” she said in a lengthy statement on Instagram, which can be seen below. “To everyone reading this, of any race, creed, sexuality, or political party, including those who have tried to bully me with name-calling, I love you.”
As JoJo mentioned, her drama with Candace comes just a few months after she and the holiday movie pro had other issues. The drama began right after the singer and actress called Candace the “rudest” celebrity she has ever met in a July 24 TikTok. Candace shared a seemingly heartfelt apology two days later, in which she expressed that she was “shocked” to hear JoJo was so impacted when she declined to take a photo with her on a red carpet. “I broke your 11-year-old heart. … Ugh. I feel crummy. JoJo, I’m so sorry,” she admitted. “Especially as a mom, it breaks my heart that I made you feel that way and I’m sorry to your mom, too, that I did that to her daughter because I know if anyone crosses my kids, you know momma bear comes out.”
The Fuller House star also claimed she and JoJo had a “great” conversation following the ordeal and used the experience as a teaching moment. “And I think the lesson we can learn is to be mindful that no matter how many followers you have, you know, even a 10-second trending TikTok video can do damage because our words matter and our actions matter … we all influence the people around us, we influence people watching us on TikTok, we influence the people that we are with at home and to be mindful of what we do post even if it’s just kinda meant to be innocent and fun at the time,” she said.
However, in a Page Six interview published on July 27, JoJo still seemed a bit disappointed, but made sure people knew the one interaction didn’t make Candace a bad person. “I will say because I had a bad experience, that doesn’t mean that she is an awful human,” she noted. “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.”