whatever spills out of my head goes here

Obviously it's never just one thing. Race, nationality, how popular the role was, previous projects, marketing, all of it matters. But acting like perceived sexuality does nothing feels disingenuous. Kit Connor has a way bigger following than Joe Locke, and they're both white leads from the same show. Edvin Ryding has more than Omar Rudberg. Galitzine has more than Taylor Zakhar Perez. It's not universal but it shows up often enough that brushing it off is strange.

And yeah, before anyone says it, Connor obviously has privileges Hudson doesn't. Both things are true at once. That's kind of the whole point. But pretending the public reads their sexualities the same way when Hudson's been photographed with his girlfriend at some of the biggest moments of his career like the Oscars and CSAs just isn't realistic. Fair or not, audiences factor that in, and it shapes how they attach to him.

These fandoms are mostly driven by women, and statistically the biggest share of that is straight women. Actors who read as straight, or straight-passing, or just romantically attainable tend to do better in those spaces because they fit more easily into the existing fantasy and parasocial dynamics. That's not a moral failing on anyone's part. It's just how these fandoms have worked for years. Acknowledging that doesn't take anything away from Hudson's success. If anything, refusing to acknowledge it makes the argument harder to take seriously, because it's one of the most consistently observable patterns in fandom culture.

This doesn’t work for Hudson, because his perceived straightness did not help him build his following. He was rumored to have a girlfriend from the start, and prior to anyone really knowing anything about them, when assumption was they were both queerbaiting due to Shane and Ilya not being stereotypically gay enough to be assumed queer actors in queer roles, Connor was assumed straight by the masses and media. Idk why y’all tend to forget this, but it did happen.

Jordan Firstman absolutely had people in his corner defending him against “fetishists” who didn’t care about queer actors. The biggest pivot in assumption of his sexuality came when he was outed and when he and Francois started showing up together, but even that didn’t affect his following.

To ignore that and try to retroactively attribute Hudson’s popularity to his girlfriend being seen with him months after he started gaining popularity, isn’t fair. Katelyn wasn’t “hard launched” until February, but his motion was already up. His Jimmy Fallon appearance followed by the golden globes, set him up well, which helped him land positively in the fashion world. He grabbed that focus and surprised people in a way Connor didn’t.

Add that to Connor having already wiped his social media presence… well. That’s the result of. Their perceived sexualities might matter now, because Connor more or less is out and Hudson is publicly dating a woman, but it won’t ever trump racial prejudice. Connor can always play straight, and if he so chooses, push an image that implies he doesn’t want to be viewed as queer in real life. Hudson can’t push an “I’m white” image even if he wanted to, because he’s already established as a half Korean man who loves being Asian.

then I’m struggling to understand what conclusion we’re supposed to draw here? you've spent several paragraphs acknowledging that we don’t know his views, don’t know his intentions, and don’t know what his team is doing, only to end up suggesting that maybe this is the audience he wants - that’s a very big leap from the evidence presented 💀

What’s extra crazy, is that I wasn’t even genuinely implying or assuming anything about him due to his “blank canvas” thing. I like Connor and don’t think he’s a bad guy at all, more so than he’s new to the industry and probably thinks being off grid makes him seem different from his age mates going up for the same roles. He has millions of followers, but he’s not known for being online and this will lack controversy for the most part. Which is fine, because it’s also probably just his personality. He’s not an online kind of guy, and was betrayed in a serious way so I understand.

I think it's great that they are not tolerating disrespect and harassment on their actors and the people in their lives. And that targeted harassment will get people blocked and/or removed from following their official accounts. Especially for a series that does humanize women's perspective, it looks right that they're not just protecting their cast but the women in their lives (especially Belmont's GF).

I do actually think most people know he has a girlfriend now, as you can’t really mention him and queerness online without a dedicated group of hating ass people racing to tell you, “He’s not really gay! He’s a queerbaiter!” However, he still plays gay. So he’s still bound to get assumed as gay irl by casual viewers.

That said, I think Hudson is often being berated for not being “queer enough” solely because he has a girlfriend. The biphobia in the HR fandom is absolutely insane, to the point where people have said they’re glad Jack Innanen didn’t get cast because he’s a queerbaiter too (he also has a girlfriend).

Unfortunately, and somewhat disgustingly, a portion of the queer audience this fandom has accumulated since its adaptation refuses to accept identities outside of gay or straight. And I highlight the queer audience specifically, because straight women, while often allies, aren’t not exactly known for not being biphobic. But there is also a decent portion of queer fans who get angry at the mention of Hudson being a queer man, simply because he’s dating a woman. They make no attempts to even consider him unlabeled and move on.

Hudson is also very much Asian, and doesn’t shy away from that even though he reasonably could. So despite the number of people claiming he’s “basically white”, Belmont actually being white and dating a woman, while playing a heterosexual character, in a show based around and marketed for its macho athlete and nerdy girl love story. He is exactly the type of actor romance audiences want. Plus, his character is an overall respectful guy toward women.

Anyone thinking Hudson was ever going to “outdo” that were lying. I do think Hudson remains more popular in the media, because he made one hell of a splash as a breakout star, but tbf, although Belmont is having a breakout moment, he has had other main roles from what I’ve seen about him. So he’s not going to have the same, “plucked from obscurity” rise to fame as Hudson anyway. He came in with at least a small following to begin with, then it was amplified because of the straight-white romance of it all.

With the way things are going in the US, I don't blame them.

I am Black, which I say often on here. To come to me and say you think it’s fine that a white man be marketed as quiet and opinion-less in the face of racism, because oh well, America is extra conservative leaning now, is weird as shit.

Y’all don’t give a fuck about nothing, are happy he is being presented as not giving a fuck about anything, and don’t care how it comes across to others, because y’all don’t care about non-white people. Which… maybe that’s the demographic he wants, idk. Although tbh, my post about this topic was more so in jest, because I have never thought Connor was racist. However, to see how his fans react to any and everything in general, and to get anons more or less telling me, “That’s okay, his team wants him to appeal to mass conservative America anyway.”

Yeah… perhaps the demographic they’re catering to is actually the goal? Maybe I was being too nice in assuming his upbringing doesn’t shape his views and career desires, because it’s not like I can say he’s doing much to combat this opinion, and he’s had an ever growing following of racist asshole fans for months now. So I guess shame on me for thinking this was something his fans didn’t want, and thinking y’all were more like Hudson fans and would combat false narratives against him because he is a nice guy who doesn’t deserve such a reputation.

It was a decent article, more or less summarizing the events. I am curious, however, to know how it came about, because it doesn’t read like a writer for EW saw what was happening, sat down and did some diving into the mess, then wrote about it. It reads like a writer was either told to push out a piece that will keep them from getting Buzzfeed backlash but still run up engagement or like a PR team asked them to run an objective piece to counteract the narrative that he’s been controversial this entire time. Because he hasn’t been, it’s just that hateful people keep digging into his life and making shit up based on whatever they can find.

The TMZ comment asserting he didn’t know it was happening yet doesn’t believe in what it stands for, is good. An article pointing out he’s being constantly harassed online by people who don’t like him, is good. What they need to do next is find a way to highlight the constant threats of accusing him of sexual assault, and wishes of death upon him. Stan twitter is a disease, but media outlets and social media users who only care enough to get clicks will spread this around even more. Because gaining clicks off of articles (I they write them) or Tik Tok videos with content such as, “Was the internet wrong!? Has Hudson Williams been the victim this whole time?” is 100% what would happen.

You’re right. Connor does come across as very PR forward, and much more willing to let racism roll off his back if it means his image remains “neutral” for white audiences. And if you’re a fan of him and still saying this, perhaps non-white people within the HR fandom should start viewing him as racist? Maybe we have been giving him too much benefit of the doubt?

Meanwhile, if we’re going to play tit for tat:

Who was raised in a maga city with maga family? Connor. Who also made an active choice to be racially insensitive on more than one occasion? Connor. Whose social circle was and still is predominantly white? Connor’s. Whose glam and career team is predominantly white? Connor’s. Who chose to blatantly deny supporting a statement denouncing the racism happening within his own fandom, coming directly from his fans and targeting his Asian best friend? Connor. Who, between Connor and Hudson are less outspoken about their views on racism and discrimination? Connor. Thus, who between Hudson and Connor is the one to have more “evidence” favoring him toward holding racist views?

Exactly. Neither one of them appear to be bad people, and it is easy to create the illusion of Connor being racist or at the very least uncaring about racial injustice, but he is white, so he gets the benefit of the doubt. He is also presumably gay, which somehow convinces people that he can’t be an oppressor, yet Hudson is never afforded the same grace since at the very least, he is an ethnic minority.

Y’all take whatever is said about Hudson and push it as true, but if I were to start saying I think Connor might be diet racist, in that he isn’t actively slinging slurs, but probably doesn’t care about non-white people, I’d be in the wrong. I’d be called out for harassing a gay man in defense of a straight man, even though the same is not allowed to be said about the people using racially insensitive means to harass Hudson. Pointing that out is considered infantilizing.

And before anyone jumps into my inbox crying about how I hate Connor and was waiting for a moment to show it, no, I don’t, which is the point. Hudson has made two questionable choices regarding racial insensitivity, while Connor has made three. The cornrows, the “Native” photography, and the lack of support for the statement. However, they both had seemingly similar upbringings.

Odessa and Kamloops are both conservative small towns, they both grew up around racist people, both knew at a young age they wanted to become actors/filmmakers, both had to essentially bite their tongues when it came to expressing themselves. Difference, Connor seemingly made the choice to be out or out adjacent, whereas Hudson conformed (whether queer or not) to masculine ideals. Upon turning 17/18, both chose to pursue acting and filmmaking and got in close with the queer communities in their respective cities.

Y’all can yap all day about how Hudson is oh so obviously not a good person, but if he’s a piece of shit because the people in his past did wrong or questionable things, then so is Connor. But if you can believe Connor is an artsy kid who grew up around bad influences, yet did his best to survive until he was able to go his own way, then how come the same can’t be said about Hudson?