Hudson Williams is tired of the toxic messages from the ‘Heated Rivalry’ fandom.
The Canadian actor took to his Instagram Story on Monday to slam “hateful” people who call himself a “die-hard Rivalry” fan.
“If you share racist, homophobic, biphobic, misogynistic, ageist, ableist, antisocial, bigoted comments, please don’t call yourself a fan. None of us need your hateful ‘love’,” the message read.
“We all respect, support and love each other and are on the same side even if you can’t accept that GTFOH,” the message continued.
Williams’ co-star Francois Arnault (who plays Scott Hunter on Rivals) shared the same message on his Instagram Story on Monday, as did actresses Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova (who plays Svetlana) and Sophie Nelisse (who plays Rose Landry).
Haramova added: “Don’t turn anything about love into hate on the internet. A lot of love has gone into this project and we all have great respect for everyone involved in its creation.”
“We are not characters, we are not real friends, partners, family. Creating false stories about us is not love,” she continued. “So much good has come out of this series, so let’s keep it that way. Let’s share the love, the art, the dance parties, the friends we made, the positivity.”
This is the first time Williams, 25, has addressed hateful comments on social media, but he and his co-stars have faced online harassment as the show’s popularity has skyrocketed since it debuted on HBO Max in November.
Williams has especially been subjected to anti-Asian slurs for “X,” with people accusing the co-stars of pitting them against each other and using each other for influence.
In particular, Arnault, 40, has been dealing with disturbing messages after some speculated he was dating Rivals star Conor Storey, 26, after the two were photographed together in public multiple times.
“I think there are a lot of young fans who don’t really understand the difference between reality and fiction,” Arnault told the Toronto Star in January about the harassment, which included death threats.
“Honestly, I wish they would watch the show again, because they don’t seem to understand the message,” he added. “Look more carefully. Did we watch the same show?”
Last month, Heated Rivalry director Jacob Tierney said he refuses to engage with what has become a “toxic” part of the fandom.
Tierney said on the Loon Call podcast, “Some people in the fandom have gotten toxic and said horrible things about my actors and characters, calling me out on imaginary Twitter fights and demanding I stand up to them. I’m not here for that.” “I’m not participating. I’m not paying attention.”
During an appearance on “Andy Cohen Live” in January, Williams was asked about people prying into his private life, and he mentioned the behavior of parasocial fans.
“See what I said, I don’t care…I’m pretty cool about it,” he said. “In terms of surprising level, I would give it a 2 out of 10.”
“Some people might have a crazy reaction to it, but they can still participate in the hike, because the only people who have a healthy reaction are the ones I care about and respect in terms of having a developed frontal association cortex.”
