Actor and former teen heartthrob Kirk Cameron hasn't been in the news much in the almost three decades since his seven-season stint on the hit sitcom Growing Pains ended. But, that changed in a major way for Cameron last week, as he began organizing "Christmas caroling peaceful protest" events which saw about a hundred people gather, close together and without masks, to sing Christmas carols in southern California. Now, his Growing Pains co-star is speaking out and sharing how "disappointed" he is with Cameron's maskless protests.
Jeremy Miller starred with Kirk Cameron on Growing Pains for the entire run of the series, as the younger brother of Cameron's character. After word of Cameron's maskless protests broke, Miller opened up to Page Six about those events, saying:
While I will always love my brother Kirk, I could not disagree more with his holding these maskless events at a time when safety and concern for others is an extreme priority. I truly couldn’t be more disappointed in him.
As you might imagine, Jeremy Miller, who currently co-hosts The Xander Effect podcast, is echoing the thoughts of many with his response to his TV brother's recent events. The country has seen the number of virus cases climb for several weeks now, and the area where Kirk Cameron held his two maskless protest caroling events last week (Ventura County, California) were in direct violation of the state's most recent stay at home order and mandate for everyone to wear masks, or some kind of covering for their nose and mouth, while not inside their homes.
In addition to defying direct state orders for public safety, Kirk Cameron's maskless caroling protests took place in an area which has seen a dramatic surge in virus cases since the beginning of the month, with triple the number of patients needing in-hospital care by the beginning of last week, compared with those who needed the same treatment on December 1.
According to Cameron's Instagram posts about the events, they were held as a means of "celebrating our God-given liberties, our constitutionally protected rights" to gather and worship publicly at Christmas time, but his sister, Fuller House star Candace Cameron Bure, has had to come out and deny that she was a part of the events. Cameron Bure noted that she's following mandates to wear a mask and social distance, but also asked that people online who've been saying "vile" things about her family in the wake of her brother's maskless events engage in more "respectful dialogue."
On top of all this, Jeremy Miller isn't the only one of Kirk Cameron's Growing Pains co-stars to speak out about his protests, as Tracey Gold, who played their sister on the series, took to Twitter to do the same, noting:
Checking in with my dear brother Mike. @KirkCameron As your more intelligent sister I want you to know that I disapprove. I’m worried about you brother AND your family. Wear a mask. Stay home. Sing later.
Gold wrapped up her comments with both a heart emoji and a masked face emoji, so while it's clear that both she and Jeremy Miller strongly disagree with what Kirk Cameron has done, they're both at least speaking out from a place of caring and wanting Cameron and his family to be safe and healthy.
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