HGTV reality stars Chip and Joanna Gaines have responded to rumors that they are anti-LGBTQ and racists, saying that such innuendos are “so far from the truth.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Chip and Joanna Gaines addressed the long-standing rumors, which appear to have originated six years ago in a Buzzfeed article in which TV reporter Kate Aurthur claimed that the couple’s pastor is anti-gay and doesn’t support same-sex marriage. (The pastor has refuted Buzzfeed’s claim.)

The Buzzfeed article also noted that the couple never featured a same-sex couple on their home improvement show Fixer Upper, while other HGTV shows have.

The establishment media have also tried to imply that the couple are racists. (Joanna Gaines is of half Korean descent.)

The Dallas Morning News reported Chip’s sister, who has opposed teaching critical race theory in schools, received a $1,000 donation from the couple for her campaign for the school board in a suburb of Fort Worth.

“Sometimes I’m like, ‘Can I just make a statement?’ 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,” Joanna Gaines told The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s the stuff that keeps me up.”

Chip Gaines said it is hard to be “diverse” as an “American white male.”

“In our own company, we’ve got nearly 700 employees, and one of our biggest passions is making this group represent all people,” he said.

Joanna Gaines also spoke of her mixed-race background.

“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,” she said.

The couple are in the midst of launching their own network, the Magnolia Network, which will debut July 15 on Discovery+.  The network will spotlight LGBTQ individuals, including an openly “queer” talent on one show on the day of launch, according to the Reporter.

The 2016 Buzzfeed article spotlighted the couple’s pastor at the non-denominational Antioch Community Church in Texas, accusing him of taking an anti-same-sex marriage stance and promoting the conversion of LGBT people into being straight.

Pastor Jimmy Seibert denied Buzzfeed’s accusations in an interview with Fox News.

“Absolutely not,” Pastor Jimmy Seibert replied when asked if he is anti-gay. “We are not only not anti-gay, we are just pro-helping people in their journey to find out who God is and who He has made them to be.”

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