François Arnaud, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, Sophie Nélisse Unite Against ‘Hateful’ Heated Rivalry Fans
Hudson Williams has had it with the worst corner of the Heated Rivalry fandom, and honestly, same. The Canadian actor took to Instagram this week to call out so‑called “fans” who have been spamming him and his co‑stars with vile messages, drawing a very clear line between genuine support and straight‑up abuse.
On Monday, Williams posted a statement to his Story aimed squarely at people using the show as an excuse to be bigots online. “Don’t call yourself a fan if you share racist/homophobic/biphobic/misogynistic/ageist/ableist/parasocial/bigoted comments of any kind. None of us need your hateful ‘love’,” the message read.
“We all respect and support and love each other and are on the same side if you can’t accept that gtfoh,”he went on to say.
It comes after he’s been hit with anti‑Asian slurs, especially on X, and had people trying to pit the cast against each other for drama and clout.
He wasn’t the only one over it, either. His co‑star François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter, reposted the same message to his Story, as did Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova (who plays Svetlana) and Sophie Nélisse (who plays Rose Landry), making it very clear the cast is united on this.
Kharlamova added her own note begging people not to twist something that was meant to be about love and community into a hate fest. “Please, don’t turn something on the internet that is about love into hate. So much love was put into this project and we all have a genuine respect for every person involved in making it,” she wrote, before reminding fans, “We are not characters, nor are our real friends, partners, or family, and creating false narratives about us is not ‘love’. So many good things have come out of this series, so let’s keep it that way. Share the love, the art, the dance parties, the friends that have been made, the positivity.”
Arnaud has been copping some of the nastiest fallout as the show’s popularity has exploded since its HBO Max debut in November. After he was photographed multiple times out in public with co‑star Connor Storrie, parts of the fandom decided they must be dating and started sending him disturbing messages, including death threats. “I think it’s a lot of younger fans who don’t really understand the difference between reality and fiction,” Arnaud said, speaking to the Toronto Star in January.
“I honestly wish they would just rewatch the show, because it doesn’t seem like they got its message,” he added. “Pay attention more closely. Did we watch the same show?”
Even behind the camera, people are done with the drama. Director Jacob Tierney recently said on the Loon Call podcast that he refuses to get dragged into online pile‑ons from what he called a toxic segment of the fandom. He described people “saying horrible things about my actors and about characters and demanding I do things to either denounce or stand up for some imaginary f—king Twitter fight,” and made it clear he’s not engaging, saying, “I’m not here for this. I’m not participating. I’m not paying attention.”
Williams has tried to keep things relatively chill in the past when it comes to intense fan interest. Back in January, during an appearance on Andy Cohen Live, he was asked about people prying into his personal life and said, “You can look at whatever I said, I don’t care … I’m pretty chill about it.”
He rated the whole thing as “like a 2 out of 10” on the freaking‑him‑out scale and added, “There are going to be people who have crazy reactions to it, but those people can take a hike because the people who have a healthy reaction are the only people that I care about or respect for having a developed frontal cortex.”
Now, though, the message from him and the rest of the Heated Rivalry crew feels pretty straightforward: enjoy the show, make your edits, scream about your fave ship, but if your version of “love” involves slurs, harassment or conspiracy‑theory fanfic about real people, you’re not actually a fan.
Lead image: Getty / Instagram
