We Finally Know Why These Stars Left The Hallmark Channel

Following her six-year stint on "One Tree Hill," actress Hilarie Burton became one of the many faces of Hallmark, starring in several network movies since 2015, like "Surprised by Love" and "Summer Villa," according to her IMDb page. Burton left Hallmark in 2019 after a reported disagreement about casting. 

Burton shared on Twitter in December of 2019 that she was "let go" back in January of that year. "I had insisted on a LGBTQ character, an interracial couple and diverse casting. I was polite, direct and professional," she wrote, adding, "But after the execs gave their notes on the script and NONE of my Requests were honored, I was told 'take it or leave it.'" And she left it, along with her paycheck, even though she was looking forward to the project, she continued in the Twitter post.

After Hallmark, Burton appeared in "The Walking Dead" TV series in 2021 alongside her actor hubby, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Notably, the year before, in 2020, Hallmark released "Wedding Every Weekend," which featured a same-sex marriage, and "The Christmas House," starring the first same-sex couple on Hallmark.