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Under pressure, Hallmark pulls gay-themed wedding ads

Celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Sandra Bernhard blasted Hallmark's decision on Twitter.

Credit: AP

This image made from undated video provided by Zola shows a scene of its advertisement. Under pressure from a conservative advocacy group, The Hallmark Channel has pulled the ads for wedding-planning website Zola that featured same-sex couples, including two brides kissing. The family-friendly network, which is in the midst of its heavily watched holiday programming, removed the ads because the controversy was a distraction, a spokesperson said in an interview on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019. (Zola via AP)

NEW YORK — Under pressure from a conservative group, The Hallmark Channel has pulled ads for a wedding planning site that featured two brides kissing at the altar.

Hallmark told the AP that the ads, for the Zola wedding website, were pulled because the controversy had become a distraction.

The conservative group One Million Moms said it had complained about the ads to Bill Abbott, CEO of Hallmark's parent company Crown Media Family Networks.

Celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Sandra Bernhard blasted Hallmark's decision on Twitter, with DeGeneres asking: “Isn't it almost 2020? What are you thinking?"

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