Chip and Joanna Gaines slam allegations they are racist and homophobic: "That’s the stuff that really eats my lunch"

The Hollywood Reporter

In a profile for The Hollywood Reporter, Mikey O'Connell points to Chip and Joanna's broad appeal paving the way for their launch of Magnolia Network. "Chip and Joanna have helped maintain that broad appeal — skeptics might say strategically — by staying removed from the friction during a tumultuous run in American history," says O'Connell. "Still, their ascent has not been without controversy. Same-sex couples never being featured on the original Fixer Upper came into sharper focus in 2016 when the Gaineses filmed a conversation with a local pastor who has openly denounced LGBTQ rights. In May, The Dallas Morning News drew attention to Chip’s sister, whose campaign for the school board in suburban Fort Worth received a $1,000 donation from the couple months before she came out against teaching critical race theory, a lighting rod issue in the state. The Gaineses didn’t comment on either matter." O'Connell traveled to Waco to speak to the Gaineses. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Can I just make a statement?’” Joanna Gaines tells him, tearing up a little. “The accusations that get thrown at you, like you’re a racist or you don’t like people in the LGBTQ community, that’s the stuff that really eats my lunch — because it’s so far from who we really are. That’s the stuff that keeps me up.” As O'Connell notes, Magnolia Network will have many series starring people of color and, on launch day, there will be at least one show with openly queer talent at its center. “As an American white male, it’s hard to be perfectly diverse,” says Chip Gaines. “In our own company, we’ve got nearly 700 employees, and one of our biggest passions is making this group represent all people.” O'Connell adds: "Often lost in conversations about the Gaines is the fact that they’re a mixed-race family. After a year of forced introspection for many, it’s a part of their identity they now give more attention. In June 2020, with the country still on edge from the police killing of George Floyd, Chip sought out an appearance on activist and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho’s digital series Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man. Joined by Joanna and their children, they discussed the disadvantages to raising their family to be color-blind in a society still dogged by racism. More recently, Joanna has been vocal about her own lineage as violence against Asian Americans lingers in the news cycle but admits she’s almost never asked about it. Her mother, Nan, emigrated from Seoul, South Korea, in 1972. Growing up in Kansas and Texas, Joanna recalls the harassment they endured." Joanna Gaines adds: “My mom is so tough, but with one look or comment, I would just see her shut down. That’s why she didn’t know how to help me when I would come home and say, ‘So-and-so called me this.’ It was also happening to her. Growing up as half-Asian, half-Caucasian, I get what that feels like to not be accepted and to not be loved. That’s the last thing I want anyone to ever feel.”