‘Heated Rivalry’ Stars Hudson Williams & François Arnaud Call Out Hateful Online Comments

“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and François Arnaud are speaking out against online haters amid the rapid success of their show. The two actors put out identical statements on their Instagram Stories on March 9 condemning the spread of online hate or pitting the show’s cast against each other. “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,'” the statement said in part. “We all respect and support and love each other and are on the same side. If you can’t accept that gtfoh,” the statement concluded. The show’s creator, Jacob Tierney, the author of the books which the series is based on, Rachel Reid, and other cast members including Robbie Graham-Kuntz also shared the same statement on their stories. The post comes amid the Crave Canada show’s huge popularity, which catapulted its stars into the spotlight. However, with the success came negativity, with some online users pitting the cast against each other or engaging in racist or homophobic posts. Hours after the statement was released, Hudson responded to a post on Threads, explaining it was François’ idea to make the statement and confirming he helped write it.