John Stamos Faces Backlash for Dave Coulier Solidarity Gesture

John Stamos is standing by his longtime friend and Full House costar Dave Coulier in the wake of his stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis. However, after the 61-year-old posted an apparent gesture of solidarity to social media, some fans called him out for what they viewed as a half measure.

In an Instagram post on Monday night, Stamos shared a series of photos in which he could be seen helping Coulier shave his head, as he is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment for the "very aggressive" form of cancer. 

"Nothing like throwing on a bald cap and flexing some Photoshop skills to show some love and solidarity with my bro Dave Coulier," he captioned the post. "You’re handling this with so much strength and positivity—it’s inspiring. I know you’re going to get through this, and I’m proud to stand with you every step of the way."

"I love you," he added, shouting out Coulier's wife Melissa for being "the most wonderfulest" and his friend's "true life line."

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Unfortunately, the gesture didn't exactly go over as he presumably was hoping it would. "Hate to be that person but this is more insulting by putting on a bald cap than not shaving your head," commented one fan. "A person with cancer doesn’t have a 'cap' they can take off."

"What a shallow gesture! Couldn't even cut your hair off for your friend," seethed another fan. "And you made sure to post it on Instagram to get those likes too."

The post likewise made its way to X, formerly Twitter, where it was similarly received. "Lmao he was like, 'Yeah sorry for your cancer but I like having hair,'" one user quipped.

lmao he was like “yeah sorry for your cancer but I like having hair” pic.twitter.com/caKl1judga

— mizge (@mihailo____) November 19, 2024

However, not everyone was so critical of Stamos. "As someone who has had cancer three times I NEVER wanted anyone to shave their head for me," reasoned one cancer survivor. "I think this is great and hilarious and I’m sure Dave didn’t really want him to shave his head." Another supportive fan added: "Oh, people—what’s more important? That he shave his head or that he’s actually there for him?"

Despite the aggressiveness of the disease, Coulier said when he first revealed the news last week that his outlook is hopeful, in that tests showed no traces of cancer in his bone marrow. "At that point, my chances of curable went from something low to 90 percent range. And so that was a great day," he told People.