Heated Rivalry is at the center of a bizarre transphobia controversy with Quinn. The Audio erotica had to quickly apologize for erroneously editing an interview.
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie Star in Heated Rivalry on HBO Max and Crave Up North. Quinn’s Ember & Ice audio drama also recruited the heartthrobs as voice actors for their latest smash hit. All of that is great but the app fell into some controversy this week when a social media interview from the stars was edited incorrectly.
Quinn donated $25,000 to Trans Lifeline after fans discovered the edited footage. Storrie and Williams were asked a question about why gay romance appeals to women viewers, readers and beyond. The star gave an accurate read about the rise of Heated Rivalry in front of the internet at large. But, Williams’ quote got snipped in a way that short changed trans women in the audience.
Williams pointed out, “There are straight women, there are trans women, there are gay women, like queer women” who have entered the massive tent of Heated Rivalry fandom. Being that the pool of fans is so wide, he didn’t feel comfortable narrowing it down to just one answer. Pretty astute from Williams right there. Unfortunately, the version of the interview shared from the Quinn account had the trans women part edited out. Naturally, Quinn leapt into action to help clarify their stance as it relates to part of their user base.
Quinn apologized for Heated Rivalry transphobic controversy
On Twitter they wrote, “Hi, We made a mistake. We understand why this edit was offensive and exclusionary, and we sincerely apologize. Our intention was to avoid conflating gender identity and sexual orientation, but removing that portion from the short-form interview was a mistake. We should have handled it differently.
“Over the years, we have consistently celebrated trans stories — we have trans members of our team and community who we see, value, and deeply appreciate, and we are committed to growing our catalogue of trans stories and creators.
“We appreciate this community for holding us accountable. It will not happen again. As a sign of solidarity with the trans community, we have made a $25,000 donation to Trans Lifeline,” the statement concludes.
Quinn quickly apologizes
Though the erotica app quickly clarified that “He was listing sexual orientations and we wanted to distinguish the two. We left in the full cut because we know it’s important to call out.” However, the damage was already done. Credit to them for acting quickly. But, it’s hard to blame certain users who suspect something strange going on there. Especially when Williams was talking about women as a whole and not just their sexual orientation.
Heated Rivalry remains massive on the Internet. Both Storrie and Williams have only seen their profiles grow as a result of being on the HBO and Crave smash-hit. However, it’s unfortunate that one of the parties that immediately gained a ton of great publicity for capitalizing on Heated Rivalry finds itself in this position. Hopefully, the editor and the app itself can do better in the future.
(featured image: Quinn)
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