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Magnolia star Joanna Gaines details heartache over anti-Asian hatred

Joanna's mother emigrated from South Korea


joanna gaines
Rebecca Lewis
Rebecca Lewis - Los Angeles
ReporterLos Angeles
On 8 October 2022
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Magnolia Network star Joanna Gaines has become hugely popular alongside her husband Chip Gaines.

MORE: Magnolia Network star Joanna Gaines shares adorable family video that has fans saying the same thing

But the home renovation star and businesswoman has also suffered from anti-Asian hatred after growing up in Texas as half-Korean.

WATCH: Fixer Upper: The Castle coming soon on Magnolia 

Joanna shared in 2021, at a time of rising anti-Asian rhetoric in America, that she remembered "as a little girl being out with my mom and seeing how in a moment, a person's harsh look or an underhanded comment would attempt to belittle her rich story and her beautiful culture".

"We can't take lightly the power that our words and actions carry. The world needs who we were ALL made to be and all the amazing and beautiful differences we each bring with us," she continued in an Instagram post alongisde a throwback picture of her and her mom.

MORE: Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines shares how she 'nurtured' herself back from a place of 'unbalance'

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"Maybe if we say it enough, it will ring true and become the message that softens even the hardest of hearts," she concluded.

Joanna's words came as she annunced her second children's book The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be had been transalated into Korean.

joanna gaines mom

Joanna and her mom 

Her mother emigrated from Seoul, South Korea, in 1972 and Joanna was raised in Kansas and Texas.

Joanna and Chip have five children; Drake, 17, 15-year-old Ella, 13-year-old son Duke, Emmie, 11, and three-year-old Crew.

They call Crawford, Texas - just a few miles outside of Waco - home, and after becoming the stars of the hit TV show Fixer Upper launched their own channel, Magnolia Network, in 2021 with Discovery to replace the DIY Network.

magnolia network gaines 2

Joanna and Chip

As well as home-flipping shows, it also features Maine Cabin Masters, Mind For Design, and Beachfront Bargain Hunt Renovation.  

In October 2022 the pair will launch their new TV show Fixer Upper: The Castle, which will see them "breathe new life into the historic landmark while they also tackle its challenging infrastructure while preserving its original beauty".

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