Jordan Firstman admitted he put his foot in his mouth regarding his critique of gay sex in Heated Rivalry.
Earlier this week, the I Love LA star slammed the popular queer hockey romance as being inauthentic. "I’m sorry, I watched those first two episodes of Heated Rivalry, and it’s just not gay. It’s not how gay people fuck. There’s so few things that actually show gay sex," the actor told Vulture.
As comparison, Firstman said a “straight guy could not write" the gay sex scenes in his own HBO Max show starring Rachel Sennott — even though Heated Rivalry's creator, Jacob Tierney, is gay.
Firstman's remarks prompted some backlash online, including from Heated Rivalry star François Arnaud, who clapped back at the critique Friday in an Instagram comment. "Is there only one way to have 'authentic' gay sex on TV?" Arnaud asked. "Should the sex that closeted hockey players have look like the sex that sceney LA gay guys have?"
On Saturday, Firstman expressed penance for his remarks in an Instagram Story. "I love Heated Rivalry and ultimately I'm a f*ggot who can't shut the fuck up but I'm gunna get better at that," he wrote.
Criticism aside, fans can't get enough of Heated Rivalry, which is now a top-streamed show on HBO Max and has broken records for its original Canadian platform Crave. The show was just renewed for a second season.
