Politics
Heated Rivalry stars call out abuse from fans
The stars of Heated Rivalry are calling out their own fans for the sheer amount of horrific abuse being levelled at them
Hudson Williams and Francois Arnaud both posted on their respective Instagram stories:
Don’t call yourself a fan if you share racist/ homophobic/ biphobic/ misogynist/ ageist/ ableist/ parasocial/ bigoted comments of any kind
None of us need your hateful ‘love.’
They continued
We all respect and support and love each other and are on the same side.
If you can’t accept that gtfoh [get the fuck outta here]
Heated Rivalry cast have to deal with parasocial weirdos
Though they don’t clarify, this is appears to be aimed at so-called fans who have been subjecting Arnaud to homophobic and biphobic abuse. Since he was pictured with co-star Connor Storrie, Arnaud has been subject to the sort of queerphobic rhetoric you’d usually get from right-wingers. Not so called fans.
It’s also seemingly aimed at the racism Williams has received, especially after his Letterboxd reviews were bizarrely analysed. He’s also been accused of queerbaiting, purely because he’s in a queer show and is close to his male co-stars while being in a relationship with a woman.
Apart from Arnaud, who is bi, none of the cast has disclosed their sexuality. And nor should they be expected to. But as we’ve seen with other fandoms, this toxic obsession can push celebs to come out before they’re ready. This happened with Heartstopper’s Kit Connor, who was forced to come out as bi at just 18 in the same circumstances.
You’d think such a bold statement would stop many in their tracks, but they still found a reason to attack Arnaud, because Williams posted it slightly before him seemingly.
One “fan” posted on Threads claiming none of the team would defend Williams without him posting a statement.
To this, Williams replied:
It was Francois’ idea and I helped write it! I don’t scroll comments so I did not see the hate. I was vibing watching figure skating highlights.
On Instagram, Arnaud also responded to a fan who accused him of posting the statement but not crediting Williams and “acting like you drafted it’
I did draft this message and Hudson and I tweaked it together and wanted to make a joint statement. We thank you for your concern.
Fans need to remember this is a queer hockey show ffs
Heated Rivalry came out at the end of last year, and its success spawned a huge fandom in a very short amount of time. With that came a huge amount of parasocial and inappropriate fans who don’t like it when their ‘faves’ don’t act exactly as they want.
But really, these fans need to remember the true message of the show and grow up.
Featured image via the Canary