What you need to know
François Arnault has sent a sharp message amid harassment from fans of ‘The Rivals’.
On Friday, January 16, the 40-year-old actor posted three photos on Instagram of co-star Hudson Williams smiling and holding up his middle finger at the camera, hidden by heart emojis. In the fourth photo, Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter on the HBO Max show, also holds up his middle finger with a heart emoji drawn above it.
Arnaud wrote in the caption, “Learning from the best. @hudsonwilliamsofficial,” and posted the Wolf Parade song “I’ll Believe in Anything,” which was featured in the episode of the same name during Scott’s breakup with Kip (Robbie Graham-Kuntz), on his Instagram Stories.
Williams responded to Arnaud’s post with a middle finger and heart emoji. “I love you,” he wrote.
Arnaud’s post comes amid reports that he received online harassment from fans of the series after he was spotted arriving at New York City’s JFK Airport with co-star Connor Story on Wednesday, January 14.
Shortly after, Page Six reported that Arnault had unfollowed hundreds of accounts on Instagram. Those included Williams, 24, Graham Kuntz, 29, Story, 25, and one belonging to Rivals creator Jacob Tierney.
However, as of Friday, January 16, he was once again pursuing his co-star and showrunner.
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Blayzen Photo/BACKGRID
Arnault has been candid about his relationship on social media in recent weeks, as the bitter rivalry becomes increasingly popular.
During an interview on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, the Canadian actor said he tries not to be too “chronically online,” as host Andy Cohen put it. “I actually blocked access to Twitter from my phone,” he shared. “I don’t want to know what people are thinking.”
“I did a show years ago called ‘The Borgias,’ and there wasn’t a huge fandom there, but there was a pretty intense fandom,” he continued, before calling X a “cesspool.” He added, “It was tough because I was like, ‘Oh, I can’t do it.'” ”
Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max
This sexy LGBTQ+ drama is based on Rachel Reid’s book series Game Changers and produced by Tierney for Canadian streaming service Crave. The film follows the intense on-ice rivalry between Canadian hockey superstar Shane Hollander (Williams) and brash Russian prodigy Ilya Rozanov (Story) that begins when they meet as teenagers and turns into a secret and explosive relationship over the years.
Heat Rivalry was later distributed by HBO Max and has since become the platform’s highest-rated non-animated series, making it a top-five scripted debut of last year. The series was renewed for season 2 in December 2025.
