Actors can refuse on the basis that they need some control over their image as they’re the face for the show and hence targets for hate.
He doesn’t have to go along with it so much, even despite the pressure from media outlets and/or ABC. Colin is OUAT’s poster boy. He’s not going to get fired over objecting to it for the sake of his marriage.
Both points are true; Colin probably wouldn’t get fired but that doesn’t mean ABC doesn’thave other ways to punish “bad behavior.” I’m not justifying Colin or JMo but we do hear stories all the time from, say, the music industry about producers holding on to the reigns of the singer; they may not lose their contract but the producer/company can threaten everything else—family, money, tour dates, ect.
Also, while Colin doesn’t seem to fight it either (perhaps he should), he seems more visibly uncomfortable to me with the kinds of crazy fan-girl attention he gets both from CS fans and perhaps even his female colleagues
There was another incident last night where Colin was swarmed trying to leave SDCC and security couldn’t get him through and I guess it got really frustrating for everyone.