Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney donned an iconic Heated Rivalry fleece jacket on Thursday to praise the mega-popular gay hockey drama and its creator Jacob Tierney for not bowing to apparent pressure in Hollywood to “tone it down.”
“So Jacob [Tierney] did the right thing. He did the smart thing. He came home to Canada. He came home to a nation that celebrates what makes us different,” Carney said about the steamy series, which includes explicit sex scenes, during a speech made at a gala in Ottawa to celebrate the Canadian entertainment industry that included Heated Rivalry creators, showrunners and cast members.
Carney posed on a red carpet with Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams, who plays Shane Hollander and co-stars with Connor Storrie. The breakout pair play closeted pro hockey players that are rivals on the ice who carry out a secret fling away from the rink.
“They’re also two young men who are terrified of being their fullest selves. And we live in an increasingly dangerous, divided and intolerant world and the hard-fought rights of the 2SLGBTQ+ community are under threat, including in many of the countries with record-setting audiences. Let that sink in,” Carney continued.
“A fundamental Canadian value is that people should be able to be whoever they want to be, to love whoever they want to love,” Carney said as he argued that Heated Rivalry reflected such human rights values. He added the gay drama faced stiff challenges to get to the small screen: “We’ve heard how studios south of the border were interested in Jacob’s vision, but wanted, shall we say, to tone it down.”
Tierney and his production banner brought the series to Canada to be produced by Bell Media, and that was followed up with a U.S. sale to HBO Max.
On the red carpet for the event, Prime Minister Carney got the chance to meet Williams, who presented Carney — who played ice hockey as a goalie in his youth — with the now-iconic zip-up Team Canada fleece jacket adorned with maple leafs that Shane wears in the second episode of the series.
The Canadian leader also joked during his speech that he may not have been prime minister when Heated Rivalry was developed and given a series order, but as a politician, he added he wasn’t above taking credit for its breakout success.
“I greenlit this thing! I stood up to the Americans! I got this thing made!” Carney said to rising audience applause. He also hinted at bringing Hollander and Rozanov to Ottawa during the upcoming second season of the series, without giving details.
Carney’s appearance on Thursday coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump warning Canada that China could say “you’re not allowed to play ice hockey anymore.” China and Canada recently struck an agreement to pursue a free trade deal between the two countries.
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