Canadian Heated Rivalry stars denounce hateful comments

The cast of Heated Rivalry are calling out bad behaviour by some of their fans. 

Actors Hudson Williams, who stars as one of the hockey players embroiled in a secret romance with a rival player, and Francois Arnaud, another player with a queer romance arc of his own, posted the same message on their Instagram accounts on Monday night, condemning hateful or disrespectful comments of any kind.

“Don’t call yourself a fan if you share racist/ homophobic/ biphobic/ misogynistic/ ageist/ ableist/ parasocial/ bigoted comments of any kind,” it read. “None of us need your hateful ‘love.'”

A number of their co-stars reposted the same message, including Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, Robbie G. K., Sophie Nelisse, Harrison Browne and Christina Chang.

Browne, who is transgender, added “also transphobic comments,” and a second post with examples of negative comments regarding his casting.

The author of the books the show is based on, Rachel Reid, and director Jacob Tierney also shared the post.

The hit Crave series has launched its stars into the spotlight — and created a fanbase that has at times devolved into toxicity. 

Intense speculation has swirled over the sexuality of Williams and co-star Connor Storrie. Storrie has pushed back, saying that playing a character that fans feel represented in is more important than “whoever I’m sleeping with in my real life.”

Following news that he has a girlfriend, Williams has drawn accusations of “queerbaiting” from some commenters, though he has not publicly labelled his sexuality.

Some have also launched racial slurs at him and attacked his appearance.

More recently, pictures of Storrie and Arnaud in public together led some viewers to assume they were romantically involved, leading some to attack Arnaud in particular because they hoped that Storrie and Williams would be together in real life, mirroring the show.

Arnaud said in January that the hateful comments by some fans had led him to block the X app from his phone and stop reading comments.

Why Heated Rivalry is more than a gay, smutty hockey show

And Tierney, the director, previously voiced concerns about the part of the fanbase that had become “toxic” — hurling insults at the actors or demanding he wade into various controversies.

“I’m not here for this. I’m not participating and I’m not paying attention,” he said.

Other TV shows and actors have been prompted to call out unkind comments by their fanbases in recent months. Folks behind The Summer I Turned Pretty in July asked fans to “keep the conversation kind this summer” after the drama’s final season brought out strong words from some viewers, while reality show Love Island encouraged its viewers to remember that contestants are “real people” who shouldn’t have to deal with cyberbullying, harassment or hate.