'Love for all.'
The stars of When Calls the Heart are making their feelings known.
Overnight on Monday, much of the cast of the Hallmark Channel series took to Instagram to share similar selfies about love. The posts come after the network came under fire for pulling an ad that featured two women kissing on their wedding day. The network has since apologized and reinstated the commercial.
In the posts, Erin Krakow, Jack Wagner, Pascale Hutton, Kavan Smith, Andrea Brooks, Paul Greene, Eva Bourne, Aren Buchholz, Kayla Wallace, Martin Cummins, Chris McNally, Kevin McGarry, Johanna Newmarch, Ben Rosenbaum and Genea Charpentier all pose with their hands making a heart symbol in front of their faces.
Each cast member wrote "love for all" alongside their selfies.
While none of the WCTH cast has made further statements on the matter, many celebs, including Ellen DeGeneres and Antoni Porowski, spoke out against Hallmark's decision to pull the ad when the news broke. The network eventually went on to reverse its decision, which they initially said they made because the women's "public displays of affection" in the commercial violated company policy. However, nearly identical ads featuring a bride and groom exchanging a kiss did not get pulled.
"Earlier this week, a decision was made at Crown Media Family Networks to remove commercials featuring a same-sex couple. The Crown Media team has been agonizing over this decision as we’ve seen the hurt it has unintentionally caused," Hallmark CEO Mike Perry said on Sunday. "Said simply, they believe this was the wrong decision. 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. As the CEO of Hallmark, I am sorry for the hurt and disappointment this has caused."
"Hallmark will be working with GLAAD to better represent the LGBTQ community across our portfolio of brands," Perry added. "The Hallmark Channel will be reaching out to Zola to reestablish our partnership and reinstate the commercials."
Mike Chi, Zola's Chief Marketing Officer, reacted to Hallmark's updated decision in a statement to ET.
"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," Chi said. "We are humbled by everyone who showed support not only for Zola, but for all the LGBTQ couples and families who express their love on their wedding day, and every day."
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