Hallmark Crown Media CEO Bill Abbott Leaves After Same-Sex Couple Ad Controversey

        Bill Abbott was the chief executive specifically of Crown Media Family Networks - the TV-programming division under Hallmark’s whole enterprise. As long as I have been a fan of Hallmark (about seven years now since I discovered the movie Signed Sealed Delivered - now the pilot in what has become a series of movies) Abbott has been the face of the company I know and love... until recently. Back in mid-December of 2019, Hallmark aired a series of six ads for the wedding-planning website Zola. Four out of the six ads showed two brides kissing. Due to Hallmark’s unfortunate reputation of producing programs that lack in all forms of diversity, Hallmark immediately faced backlash and received hate online from a group called One Million Moms - "a division of the American Family Association" and a group known to be conservative, but apparently in a fallaciously extreme way. Its mission, put simply, is apparently to stop the "exploitation of children" - especially in the media. How that mission makes it relevant for them to berate Hallmark over airing a commercial with a lesbian couple, beats me. Their constant berating and ridiculing over the airing of the commercials was giving Hallmark a lot of bad press. It was drawing a lot of negative attention to the brand. I believe this played a major role, if not the only role, in Hallmark's initial decision to discontinue the airing of four out of the six Zola ads because they showed PDA from same-sex couples. 

        Hallmark, of course, immediately faced backlash for that decision because it is discriminatory against the LGBTQ+ community and they deserve and need representation too. Abbott would've been one of the main voices in the making of that decision, so it was no surprise when he decided to resign from the company only about a month after the initial controversy. Hallmark immediately realized that removing the Zola ads from their commercial lineup was an even bigger mistake than what some people thought airing them in the first place was. They were stuck in the middle and really couldn't win, but they ultimately sided with the haters from One Million Moms instead of the LGBTQ+ community, and that understandably outraged tons of people. They were enraging, displeasing, and saddening a lot more people than the very small amount of people they were pleasing. Hallmark has since issued an apology for removing the Zola ads from the air and reevaluated their commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion. 

        In fact, since January of last year, Hallmark has been trying to increase the diversity in its programs. Their 2020 Countdown to Christmas movie lineup (the movies from this past holiday season) included a movie with a gay couple as the lead characters. It also included more movies with African American actors than ever before, including movies with lead biracial couples. This stark increase in Hallmark's diversity is largely due to the arrival and initiation of Wonya Lucas as the new Crown Media CEO. As an African American female herself, she has already proved by the pro-diversity changes in Hallmark's programming that she is committed to continuing to increase diversity, representation, and inclusion on all the Hallmark channels. Lucas has a wide range of experience in media and entertainment. You can read about her experience and qualifications here. She sounds like a wonderful new addition to the Hallmark family! Welcome Wonya Lucas and thank you for all the ways in which you are brining positive innovations to Hallmark Channel's programming!