François Arnault has unfollowed the cast of Heated Rivals and others involved in the hit drama, including co-stars Hudson Williams, GK Robbie and Conor Storey.
The 40-year-old actor also unfollowed series creator Jacob Tierney in a social media purge, reducing his “follow” list from more than 1,000 people to 213 people in the last week, according to Just Jared.
Arnault is said to be overcoming online threats after he and 25-year-old Story were spotted jetting off from JFK Airport after press week in the Big Apple, sparking romance rumors, but some fans believe Story would be better off teaming up with 24-year-old Williams.
Fans flocked to X to comment on the escalating social media drama.
“François Arnault has unfollowed everyone involved in Rivals on Instagram, including the entire cast and creator Jacob Tierney. It appears Francois has limited his online presence due to the mean comments and online harassment,” said one person, while another agreed: “This gentle king needs to be left alone.”
“The comments and harassment are gross and unwarranted, but can’t we just unfollow his cast members?” a third asked.
Others were concerned that the apparent drama could affect Arnaud’s participation in season 2 of the hit series.
“I would lose my mind if we couldn’t get François Arnault in Season 2 of HEATED Rivalry because of toxic fans,” user X wrote.
Another source wrote: “Unfollowing accounts associated with the show doesn’t help François. He’s getting death threats.”
“The queer guy on this show is getting death threats, and you think he’s just ‘messy’ and ‘attention-seeking’. This fandom is full of people who belong in padded rooms.”
Story and Hudson play rival hockey players and secret lovers Shane Hollander and Leah Rozanov in the steamy drama, while Arnaud plays Scott Hunter.
Representatives for Mr. Storey and Mr. Arnault did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
Arnault admitted that he is overwhelmed by social media following the success of The Rivals, even suggesting that he should shut down his entire account.
“Oh, Helen Hunt…not only did he follow me and other members of the show, but he commented on my old posts,” he said during an appearance on the SiriusXM podcast “The Morning Mashup.”
“And she said, ‘You’re so good at this and so much else,'” the actor claimed.
“I was like, ‘Is she looking through all my filmography?'” Yeah, I had to do that, and I’m like, “Oh, I’m going to delete my Instagram now.” There’s no need to look at anything else. ” Shut everything down. ”
“This is how it should end,” he added. “This is my happy ending.”
