Font issue: mystery shapes "blocking" text

[DigitalChickster]

I just updated to CC 2017 today. So I don't know if this issue is something to do with that or not. But... I have a font issue. I want to type a word. And put a gradient on that word. But when I do that, it looks like there are white shapes in front of the word. But... there are not. The bottom image is in outline mode. So you can see it's just text and no other shapes. But the top two images show the word with the gradient... moved around. So the "shapes" change when the word is moved. This issue goes away when I fill with a solid color. So it must be something to do with the gradient. Any ideas? The issue does NOT go away if I convert the fonts to outline. Plus, I don't want to convert them... I want it editable.

[MichaelStephens]

See if the same thing occurs by changing the font, applying the gradient to a shape that's about the same size, and if you apply another gradient to the text.