NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The Hallmark Channel is reversing course, saying Sunday it will seek to "reinstate" a commercial for a wedding planning site it pulled off the air at the urging of an anti-LGBTQ group because it featured two female brides kissing each other at the altar.
The ad for Zola was yanked following a complaint from One Million Moms. It is part of the American Family Association, a Mississippi-based group deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
A Hallmark spokesperson previously told The Associated Press that the network pulled the ad because the controversy was creating "a distraction."
"The Crown Media team has been agonizing over this decision as we've seen the hurt it has unintentionally caused. Said simply, they believe this was the wrong decision," Hallmark Cards CEO Mike Perry said in a statement. Sunday.
Perry continued, "Our mission is rooted in helping all people connect, celebrate traditions, and be inspired to capture meaningful moments in their lives. Anything that detracts for this purpose is not who we are ... Across our brand, we will continue to look for ways to be more inclusive and celebrate our differences ... As the CEO of Hallmark, I am sorry for the hurt and disappointment this has caused."
Perry said Hallmark will contact Zola to "reestablish our partnership and reinstate the commercials." Hallmark will also work with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to "better represent" the LGBTQ community across its brands.
Following Hallmark's announcement Sunday, Zola said it will be in touch with Hallmark "regarding a potential return to advertising."
"We were deeply troubled when Hallmark rejected our commercials for featuring a lesbian couple celebrating their marriage, and are relieved to see that decision was reversed," Zola Chief Marketing Officer Mike Chi told CNN Business.
Hallmark was facing some bitter criticism on social media over its initial decision to pull the ads.
The hashtag #BoycottHallmark was trending at one point on Twitter, and celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and William Shatner assailed the decision. "Put the commercials back!" Shatner wrote. DeGeneres asked: "Isn't it almost 2020?"
GLAAD called the initial decision to remove the Zola ads "discriminatory and especially hypocritical coming from a network that claims to present family programming and and also recently stated they are 'open' to LGBTQ holiday movies." The group said it would be asking other Hallmark advertisers where they stand on the issue, and if they will pull their advertising.
Zola said after the commercial was pulled that it wouldn't advertise on the channel. It wasn't clear if the company's decision has changed since Hallmark announced it will reinstate the ads.
The conservative group One Million Moms, part of the American Family Association, had complained about the ads personally to Bill Abbott, CEO of Crown Media Family Networks, Hallmark's parent company.
A post on the group's website said that Abbott "reported the advertisement aired in error." The group also wrote: "The call to our office gave us the opportunity to confirm the Hallmark Channel will continue to be a safe and family-friendly network."
Zola had submitted six ads, and four included a lesbian couple. After Hallmark pulled those ads, but not two featuring only opposite-sex couples, Zola pulled its remaining ads, the company said.
"The only difference between the commercials that were flagged and the ones that were approved was that the commercials that did not meet Hallmark's standards included a lesbian couple kissing," said Mike Chi, Zola's chief marketing officer, in a statement sent to the AP. "All kisses, couples and marriages are equal celebrations of love and we will no longer be advertising on Hallmark."
In one of the pulled ads, two brides stand at the altar and wonder aloud whether their wedding would be going more smoothly if they had used a wedding planning site like Zola. The lighthearted ad ends with the just-married couple sharing a quick kiss.
Actress Sandra Bernhard, who played one of the first openly bisexual characters on network TV in "Roseanne," also criticized Hallmark's decision.
"All the groovy gay ladies i know won't be watching your Christmas schlock," she wrote on Twitter, addressing Hallmark.
The Hallmark decision was also mocked on "Saturday Night Live," and Netflix US tweeted stills from a TV show and movie that it labeled "Titles Featuring Lesbians Joyfully Existing And Also It's Christmas Can We Just Let People Love Who They Love."
The developments came as Hallmark appeared to be considering more same-sex themed content.
Asked about the possibility of holiday movies based on same-sex relationships, Abbott was quoted in The Hollywood Reporter in mid-November as saying on its TV podcast: "We're open to really any type of movie of any type of relationship."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
