François Arnault has responded to the online abuse he has received amid rumors that he is dating his Rivals co-star Conor Storey.
“Fans in general have been incredibly positive and respectful,” the 40-year-old actor told the Toronto Star in an interview published Saturday.
“For the other fans, I think there are a lot of younger fans who don’t really understand the difference between reality and fiction,” he said of the harassment, which reportedly 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?”
Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter on the hit Crave/HBO Max series, faced harassment after he was snapped leaving JFK Airport on a jet with Story, 25, on Wednesday after press week in the Big Apple.
The appearance sparked dating rumors between the two, with some fans believing that Story should be involved with Hudson Williams, 24, instead – Story and Williams play rivals and secret lovers Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, respectively, on the show.
“They need to leave this kind king alone,” a source from X said as the online drama escalated.
Meanwhile, Arnault went on a social media purge last week, unfollowing the cast and crew of Rivals, including co-stars Williams, Robbie GK and Story, as well as series creator Jacob Tierney.
According to Just Jared, he cut his “following” list from more than 1,000 to 213, but then added it back, Page Six confirmed on Friday, along with a composite photo of himself and Williams holding up their middle fingers.
Arnault also mentioned mass unfollowing in interviews with media outlets.
“What’s happening is I’m unfollowing everyone and Instagram won’t let me do that all at once,” he told the Toronto Star.
“You can only unfollow a certain number of people in a 24-hour period, but I didn’t know that at the time,” he added.
Arnault also claimed that the photo of himself pointing his middle finger had little to do with the online harassment he had experienced.
“It has nothing to do with that,” he said.
“I mean, ‘completely’ might be a lie, but it has very little to do with it. I’ve been doing ‘spot the difference’ posts like this for a long time, and I just thought it would be great to do something with Hudson, and that’s it.”
The Los Angeles-based actor confessed that he is considering moving because of the harassment.
“I thought, ‘Oh, maybe a little bungalow with street access and not in a gated compound isn’t the best idea,'” he said, “Oh yeah, I’ll move into a building with a doorman.”
