Canadian PM goes full fanboy over Heated Rivalry star, jokes he ‘greenlit’ the show

Canada’s prime minister turned heads this week by stepping squarely into pop-culture fandom and making a pointed statement about creative freedom in the process. Prime Minister Mark Carney appeared at a gala celebrating Canada’s entertainment industry on Thursday, wearing an iconic Heated Rivalry fleece jacket, using the moment to praise the hit gay hockey drama and its creators for refusing to dilute the story to meet Hollywood expectations.

Speaking at the Ottawa event alongside the show’s creators, cast, and showrunners, Carney singled out creator Jacob Tierney for keeping the series unapologetically Canadian and unapologetically queer. “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, referencing the steamy series, which features explicit sex scenes.

Carney acknowledged that Heated Rivalry faced resistance while being pitched to studios outside Canada. “This room knows that this is a story that almost didn’t get told. We’ve heard how studios south of the border were interested in Jacob’s vision, but wanted to, shall we say, tone it down,” he said.

Carney framed the show’s central relationship as more than a sports drama, highlighting its relevance in a global political climate increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ rights.

“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,” he said.

He later added, “A fundamental Canadian value is that people should be able to be whoever they want to be, to love whoever they want to love,” arguing that Heated Rivalry reflects those values.

Red carpet moment with Hudson Williams

Before the speech, Carney posed on the red carpet with Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams, who plays Shane Hollander opposite Connor Storrie. The series follows the pair as closeted professional hockey players who are fierce rivals on the ice and secret lovers off it.

Williams 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 leaves that Hollander wears in the second episode of the series.

Carney also leaned into the moment with humour, joking that while he was not prime minister when the series was developed, he was still happy to take credit for its success.

“Yea! I made… I greenlit this thing! I stood up to the Americans! I got this thing made! Yea!” Carney said, drawing applause from the audience. He also hinted, without details, that Hollander and his on-screen counterpart Rozanov could make a trip to Ottawa in the show’s upcoming second season.

Carney’s appearance came the same day US President Donald Trump warned Canada that China could say “you’re not allowed to play ice hockey anymore.” The comment followed a recent agreement between Canada and China to pursue a free trade deal. The contrast between geopolitical tension and a prime minister celebrating a queer hockey romance was not lost on attendees, or on fans of the series, reinforcing Carney’s message that Heated Rivalry is, in his words, a story that “could only be made in Canada.”