The Fuller House actress has taken on a new role as the network’s chief creative officer. She had been with the Hallmark Channel for more than a decade but left this past spring.

“I knew the people behind Great American Family were Christians that love the Lord and wanted to promote faith programming and good family entertainment,” Bure told The Wall Street Journal in a Monday story.

She went on to say that she doesn’t expect her new network to include same-sex relationships in its holiday films. “I think that Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core,” she said.

Bure’s comments were met with some furor on social media. One Tree Hill actress Hilarie Burton Morgan called her a “bigot,” and singer/dancer JoJo Siwa said her statement was “rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.”

Bure told Newsweek in a statement that she has “long wanted to find a home for more faith-based programming” and that she’s “grateful to be an integral part of a young and growing network.”

She continued: “I had also expressed in my interview, which was not included, that people of all ethnicities and identities have and will continue to contribute to the network in great ways both in front of and behind the camera, which I encourage and fully support. I’ve never been interested in proselytizing through my storytelling, but in celebrating God’s greatness in our lives through the stories I tell.”

After the backlash began, Bure shared a post on Instagram in which she sought to clarify her stance.

“All of you who know me, know beyond question that I have great love and affection for all people,” she wrote in the multi-slide post. “It breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone.

“It saddens me that the media is often seeking to divide us, even around a subject as comforting and merry as Christmas movies. But, given the toxic climate in our culture right now, I shouldn’t be surprised. We need Christmas more than ever,” she said.

That part of Bure’s lengthy post brought further criticism when it was shared across social media. A number of Twitter users questioned why the actress chose to bring Christmas into the discussion.

“Girl what does Christmas have to do with marriage and what she said? That response doesn’t do anything for what she said,” wrote a detractor named Jozzy.

Repeating Bure’s remark, another user said: “‘We need Christmas more than ever.’

“It literally happens every year…? It’s not going anywhere. It’s the same day every year too, like you always know exactly where it is. It didn’t run away,” the user, Val Halla, wrote.

“Don’t bring Christmas into this,” another user wrote. “Christmas doesn’t excuse being homophobic,” a further comment said.

TikTok community copywriter Elana Rubin pointed out that “all people don’t celebrate Christmas,” while freelance writer Justin Kirkland accused Bure of aligning herself with businesses that are engaging in “fear-mongering for money.”

“Truly, stop insulting people’s intelligence, Candace Cameron Bure,” Kirkland tweeted. “This businesswoman is far too intelligent to believe her own nonsense. If she were a woman of faith, she would realize the ‘faith-based’ businesses she aligns with are just fear-mongering for money. Spare me.”

Elsewhere in her post, Bure spoke about being a “devoted Christian,” explaining that this “means that I believe that every human being bears the image of God. Because of that, I am called to love all people, and I do.

“If you know me, you know that I am a person who loves fiercely and indiscriminately. My heart yearns to build bridges and bring people one step closer to God, to love others well, and to simply be a reflection of God’s huge love for all of us,” she wrote.

Bure, a former panelist on The View, went on to discuss the love that “God himself showered upon humanity when he gave the gift of joy and forgiveness on the first Christmas morning 2,000 years ago.”

“It is why I love Christmas stories and sharing true joy and true peace with millions of people around the world,” she continued. “And in the sole motivation of pure love, I hope you’ll join me in sharing God’s hope for all the world this Christmas season. Call that my Christmas wish.”