Hallmark Channel's decision, first to air ads from the wedding registry company Zola that feature same-sex couples kissing on their so-called wedding days, then to pull the ads due to an outcry from the conservative group, One Million Moms (1MM), and ultimately to reverse course after backlash from the LGBT organizers of GLAAD, created all of this inane whiplash by airing the ads in the first place.  That Crown Media, the parent company of Hallmark, did not see fit to filter out the Zola commercials before their target audience of conservative-minded families watched in disbelief, raises the question, "Who approved the Zola ads?"

On December 13, Crown Media Family Network's CEO, Bill Abbott, told reps from One Million Moms the advertisements "aired in error" and he was informed about them only after hearing from concerned 1MM supporters.  Crown Media pulled the ads saying, "The debate surrounding these commercials on all sides was distracting from the purpose of our network."

Abbott's move to ban the ads conveniently led to a reciprocal backlash from high profile LGBT activists, catapulting the controversy into the public arena.  Two days after tweets from Pete Buttigieg; Ellen DeGeneres; and, of all people, William Shatner, Hallmark's CEO, Mike Perry, promised to reinstate the Zola commercials. Perry said Abbott made the initial call to stop the ads from airing.  Perry not only announced that the ads will run, he stated that Hallmark will work with GLAAD to "better represent the LGBTQ community across our portfolio of brands."

In other words, Judas Hallmark executives betrayed their faithful and lucrative audience with a lesbian kiss.

So did Abbott initially approve the ads?  And why would a successful, privately owned company that built its brand on offering traditional, family-friendly entertainment risk losing the majority of its viewership? 

First, there can be little doubt Abbott knew about the ads before they aired.  As the Hollywood Reporter correctly pointed out in a November 2019 interview with the CEO  regarding his "struggle to bring diversity and inclusiveness" to the Hallmark channel, "the push for inclusive programming starts with executives who put out a mandate that they're looking for specific types of content."

Before the current upheaval, Michelle Vicary, executive vice president for programming at Hallmark and former Disney exec, who answers directly to Abbott, was gung-ho on the shift to producing more movies with gay couples, stating, "We are continuing to expand our diversity.  We are looking at pitches for LGBT movies."  In the Hollywood Reporter interview, Abbott concurred with Vicary, saying, "We're open to really any type of movie of any type of relationship in any space."

In June 2019, Hallmark hired Liza Krontilik.  The new vice president of ad, sales and marketing was formerly with NBC Universal, Viacom, and the Discovery Channel and began her television career at ABC's The View.  Krontilik, like her contemporaries, is steeped in the Hollywood culture of anti-family, anti-Christian, and anti-conservative programming.

Hallmark's execs have now put the interests of Hollywood multi-millionaires and gay activists ahead of their loyal viewers.  Hallmark's partnership with GLAAD, a radical,  P.C. protected cartel pushing so-called "gay rights," and hauling in hundreds of millions from billion-dollar companies, is Chick-fil-A 2.0.  GLAAD, along with hundreds of other well funded leftist non-profits, sniff out capitalist enterprises espousing traditional and Christian values and then move in for the kill.

GLAAD's president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, said Hallmark's "decision to correct its mistake represents a major loss for fringe organizations, like One Million Moms, whose sole purpose is to hurt families like mine."  Poor Sarah.  She managed to shake down a media conglomerate, and she's still not satisfied.  Maybe she can use the loot she gets from Google and Wells Fargo to build a coliseum and stock it with Christian-eating lions.