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\nFran\u00e7ois Arnaud\u00a0is sending a pointed message amid harassment from Heated Rivalry fansThe Canadian star shared a post to Instagram that included three photos of costar Hudson Williams smiling as he held up his middle fingers to the cameraArnaud plays Scott Hunter on the hit HBO Max hockey drama<\/p>\n
Fran\u00e7ois Arnaud<\/a>\u00a0is sending a pointed message amid harassment from fans of Heated Rivalry<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n On Friday, Jan. 16, the actor, 40, shared a post to Instagram<\/a> that included three photos of costar Hudson Williams smiling as he held up his middle fingers to the camera, obscured by some heart emojis. The fourth photo showed Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter on the HBO Max show, also holding up his middle finger with a heart emoji on top.\n<\/p>\n “Learning from the very best. @hudsonwilliamsofficial,” Arnaud wrote in the caption, before adding the post to his Instagram Stories with the Wolf Parade track “I’ll Believe in Anything” \u2014 which was featured in an episode of the same name during Scott’s breakup with Kip (Robbie Graham-Kuntz).\n<\/p>\n Williams replied to Arnaud’s post with middle finger and heart emojis. “love u,” he wrote.\n<\/p>\n Arnaud’s post comes amid reports<\/a> that he had been subject to online harassment from the series’ fans after he was seen arriving at JFK airport<\/a>\u00a0in New York City with costar Connor Storrie on Wednesday, Jan. 14.\n<\/p>\n Soon after, Page Six<\/a> reported that Arnaud unfollowed hundreds of accounts on Instagram \u2014 including those belonging to Williams, 24, Graham-Kuntz, 29, Storrie, 25 and Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney.\n<\/p>\n Though, as of Friday, Jan. 16, he was following his costars and the showrunner again.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Connor Storrie and Frana\u00e7ois Arnaud spotted at JFK airport on Jan. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n BlayzenPhotos\/BACKGRID<\/p>\n Arnaud has been candid in recent weeks about his relationship with social media as Heated Rivalry grows more and more popular.\n<\/p>\n During an interview on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy<\/a>, the Canadian actor shared that he “tries not to be” too “chronically online,” as host Andy Cohen put it. “I actually blocked Twitter access from my phone,” he shared. “I don’t wanna be able to know what people are thinking.”\n<\/p>\n “I did a show years ago called The Borgias<\/a> which, there was a not quite as intense fandom, but pretty intense,” he continued, before calling X a “cesspool.” He added, “It was rough, like, ‘Oh I can’t.’ ”\n<\/p>\n Fran\u00e7ois Arnaud as Scott Hunter and Robbie G.K. as Kip Grady in ‘Heated Rivalry.’.<\/p>\n Sabrina Lantos\/HBO Max<\/p>\n The steamy LGBTQ+ drama is based on\u00a0Rachel Reid\u2019s\u00a0Game Changers\u00a0book series<\/a>\u00a0and was created by\u00a0Tierney<\/a>\u00a0for Canadian streaming service Crave. It follows Shane Hollander (Williams<\/a>), a Canadian hockey superstar, and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie<\/a>), a cocky Russian phenom, whose fierce on-ice rivalry begins when they meet as teenagers and later turns into secret, explosive hookups over the years.\n<\/p>\n Heated Rivalry\u00a0was later picked up for distribution by HBO Max, and it has since become the platform\u2019s top-rated non-animated acquired series and a top-five scripted debut of last year. The series was renewed for season 2 in December 2025.<\/p>\n