John Stamos and Dave Coulier have been good friends ever since their time as Full House sitcom staples in the ’80s and ’90s, so when Coulier was recently diagnosed with cancer, it’s no surprise that his co-star-turned-BFF was there to support him — but the way he went about it has some fans raising their eyebrows.
As Coulier told People last week, Stamos had already planned a visit with his Fuller House co-star when Coulier received, and then announced, his diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It turned out, Stamos’ visit would fall just one day after Coulier’s scheduled chemotherapy appointment. “He goes, ‘If you want to just sleep, I’ll just sit by you or if you want to listen to music or just talk, whatever,’” Coulier told the outlet of his friend’s supportive response. “And I’m just like, ‘Wow. That’s like a brother. That’s just truly a brother.’”
All good, right? Well, some fans disagreed after Stamos shared a glimpse of their visit on Instagram yesterday. In the carousel, Stamos is pictured in a bald cap, posing with a newly-bald Coulier; helping to shave Coulier’s head; and kissing his head alongside Coulier’s wife, Melissa Coulier. “Nothing like throwing on a bald cap and flexing some Photoshop skills to show some love and solidarity with my bro,” Stamos wrote in the caption.
Down in the comments, though, reactions were… mixed. A vocal contingent of fans made it clear that they thought Stamos’ bald cap-plus-Photoshop stunt was offensive. “Hate to be that person but this is more insulting by putting on a bald cap then not shaving ur head,” wrote one commenter. “A person with cancer doesn’t have a ‘cap’ they can take off.”
Others thought Stamos was posting for the wrong reasons — like using the moment as a “photo op,” according to one commenter. “What a shallow gesture!” another person said. “Couldn’t even cut your hair off for your friend. And you made sure to post it on Instagram to get those likes too.”
“Is this really appropriate?” asked another fan. “A bald cap is showing solidarity? You can just take your cap off and be ‘normal’ again… I can’t help but feel that you’re using Dave’s diagnoses as a way to make yourself more likeable.”
Still, there were plenty of fans that found Stamos’ gesture funny and sweet, a way to cheer up his friend during a rough time. “[D]ave knows that [Stamos] loves him and he is there for him,” one supporters said. “He doesn’t need to shave his head for that and the bald cap probably got a laugh out of [D]ave… let’s just quit being hateful please it’s so tiring.”
Other people addressed the criticism of Stamos not fully shaving his head, saying there was no need to go that far — and that he might not be able to. “[T]o the people in the comments, you don’t know an ounce of what their relationship is like, you don’t know what contracts [S]tamos has because of his hair (it’s a real, very common industry thing) and doing the bald cap and being honest is solidarity the only way he can,” one person wrote. Another added, “As someone who has had cancer three times I NEVER wanted anyone to shave their head for me. I think this is great and hilarious and I’m sure Dave didn’t really want him to shave his head.”
Fast forward to today and Coulier himself is shutting down the negativity. “I’m sorry to see a bunch of negative comments as l’ve just begun my cancer journey,” he wrote on Instagram. “It’s our friendship (me and John) and this is how we are handling a very tough time. I’m a comedian and humor is what drives me. John knows how to cheer me up and I laughed out loud when he arrived wearing a bald cap — being a true loving friend and brother.”
Then, Coulier turned to the reason he shared his diagnosis publicly in the first place: to raise awareness. “I have heard from so many people who have been inspired enough by my words and actions to say that they are going to check in with their doctors and get mammograms, a colonoscopy or a prostate exam,” he wrote. For Coulier, who lost his sister, niece, and mother to cancer, the plan is to “laugh in the face of adversity,” as he did during those painful journeys. “l’m choosing to spread the word about early cancer detection to help people. That’s just who I am,” he concluded.
Our take? We get where some of the commenters are coming from — the photos and the framing of the caption definitely come off cringey. That said, the gesture was for Coulier, who loved it, and that’s what really matters here. Maybe next time, though, we just keep the weirdly smooth bald Photoshop photos in the group chat.
Before you go, read about these celebs who’ve opened up about their health issues:
