Heated Rivalry's Francois Arnaud & Hudson Williams React to Jordan Firstman's Criticism of Show

It began earlier this week after Firstman, 34, criticized Heated Rivalry in an interview with Vulture, accusing the queer hockey romance Crave/HBO Max series of being "not gay" and the sex scenes being inauthentic, while also saying that he doesn't "respect" the lead actors, Williams and Connor Storrie, because they've chosen to keep their sexual orientations private.

On Friday night, Arnaud -- who also portrays a closeted queer hockey player in Heated Rivalry like Williams and Storrie -- hit back at Firstman in the comments section of outlet Just Jared's Instagram post about the I Love LA star's comments.

"Is there only one way to have 'authentic' gay sex on tv?," the Canadian actor wrote, before slamming Firstman. "Should the sex that closeted hockey players have look like the sex that sceney LA gay guys have?🤔."

Shortly after, Williams, 24, reshared Arnaud's comment and the Instagram post to his Stories, taking a different approach than his co-star, writing, "but truly go watch I Love LA! Jordan and the cast are great!!"

Following Arnaud and Williams' reactions to his criticism of Heated Rivalry and backlash from fans online, Firstman took to his Instagram Stories on Saturday to clarify his remarks and share his thoughts on the series.

Alongside a selfie, Firstman -- who is openly gay -- wrote, "I love Heated Rivalry and ultimately I’m a f----t who can’t shut the f--k up but I’m gunna get better at that."

In the next side, the actor posted a screenshot from what appeared to be a direct message from a user, who replied to one of his past Instagram Stories, which featured a photo of himself posing shirtless with a towel around his waist.

"Ugly and fat," the critic wrote, per the screenshot, to which Firstman reacted in text over the photo, writing, "Not sure I deserve thousands of these messages but hey I do agree some days!"

As previously mentioned, Firstman was met with backlash over his comments about Heated Rivarly, which stars Williams and Storrie as professional hockey players and rivals Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, respectively, who have a secret years-long romance. The Canadian show -- which is based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers series -- is created, written, and directed by Jacob Tierney, who is openly gay.

"I'm sorry, I watched those first two episodes of Heated Rivalry and it’s just not gay. It’s not how gay people f--k," Firstman told Vulture in an interview published on Thursday. "There's so few things that actually show gay sex."

After the interviewer later called the 2023 film Rotting in the Sun -- in which Firstman shot unsimulated sex scenes -- the "best gay movie of the decade in terms of feeling honest about what gay life is like," he responded But they want to see Heated Rivalry. I go to art to be confronted and to think, but a lot of people just want entertainment or to see two straight hockey players pretending to be gay and f--king."

The journalist then noted that the show's stars haven't spoken out about their sexuality, to which Firstman replied, "Then you know what? I am one of those bitches who says, 'Then say it.' A gay guy would say it. I don’t respect you because you care too much about your career and what’s going to happen if people think you’re gay."

On Friday, it was announced that Heated Rivalry has been renewed for a second season.