Over the past year since it's been released, the pro-life film Unplanned has faced bias, censorship, and bans, but who would have predicted it would be edited out of the Hallmark Channel's broadcast of the "Christian Oscars?"
On March 1, Ashley Bratcher, the star of the hit movie, tweeted out that Hallmark's February 27 broadcast of the MovieGuide Awards had completely erased the pro-life film's nominations. (Last year, the Hallmark Channel had also refused to air ads for the film.)
Outraged. Movieguide awards recently aired on @hallmarkdrama & @UnplannedMovie & I were nominated. We were the ONLY nominees who were not recognized. Hallmark has ERASED us from the show and refused to acknowledge us as nominees. This is completely UNACCEPTABLE.@hallmarkchannel pic.twitter.com/n6KZiXnp1k
— Ashley Bratcher (@_AshleyBratcher) March 2, 2020
As Bratcher told The Washington Examiner, “It's one thing to cut the speech, it happens all the time, but the show completely erased us in the nominee announcements." Bratcher pointed out, "Every other nominee was announced. There's no excuse, even if they say it's time. It takes a millisecond to show our nominee clip.”
Dr. Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide, said that it was his company that had edited the broadcast, but Dr. Robby Baehr, Movieguide President and COO, told LifeSiteNews on Wednesday, "The Broadcast was cut and edited by us under direction by Hallmark Channel and their representatives. All final creative approval was done by Hallmark and not Movieguide or its editor Jeremy Carroll.”
Since fans voiced their outrage, the Hallmark Channel has agreed to re-air the broadcast with Unplanned included. On Wednesday, Hallmark sent the following e-mail to media outlets:
"We have scheduled the MOVIEGUIDE® Awards to re-air on Hallmark Drama on Monday, March 9th at 10 PM. It will also be available on the TV Everywhere app. All telecasts will include mentions of the film, 'Unplanned' and its lead actress, Ashley Bratcher. We at Crown Media extend our sincere apologies to Ms. Bratcher."
Hallmark has been in hot water in the past with its audience, who expect them to respect their values. In December, Hallmark initally pulled a wedding commercial with two brides kissing after a protest. Then it caved to LGBT pressure and aired the commercial anyway, angering viewers.
