What to Know
Rachel Reid’s queer book series, Heated Rivalry, which was turned into a hit television show in 2025, means a lot to fans worldwide. A lot of readers and viewers tend to see themselves in these characters, especially those in the queer and autistic community. The best-selling author is facing growing backlash over resurfaced posts that popped back up online in which she referred to her protagonist as “stupid.” People have also spotted some old posts from the writer that many have found offensive where she discusses her possible regrets in writing an autistic character.
‘Heated Rivalry’ writer, Rachel Reid, faces backlash after referring to a popular character as “stupid.”
If you’ve read a few of the books in the Game Changers book series, including Heated Rivalry, you’ll know that queer professional hockey player, Shane Hollander, plays a big role in a couple of them, so it’s really no surprise that people are quite fond of the fictional character.
Keeping that in mind, The Express Tribune reported that the author that penned the whole Game Changers universe is facing backlash after some posts resurfaced from the writer when she said that she “really regrets” suggesting that Shane’s character is autistic.
In the thread that was shared on X by someone who goes by @Hudlover, Rachel can also been seen referring to Shane as “an idiot” and “stupid.” Hudlover on X captioned the thread with some pretty strong allegations, as they wrote “Rachel Reid has treated her neurodivergent and queer character Shane Hollander with unsurprising ignorance and negligence.”
To say that this very passionate community of readers and TV watchers were not a fan of the language she used is a huge understatement!
The writer issued a public apology video that didn’t quite hit right with fans.
In her apology video to the fans, Rachel tried to come from a place of “self-aware humor” as you can watch her on screen discussing a faux conversation that she had with Shane trying to explain her insensitive comments, but it just did not seem to land with the readers, per the Express Tribune.
There are many people in the Instagram comments who decided to air their grievances publicly with the writer. One person shared, “Remember that time you said you regretted making Shane autistic but then after the show aired you said that you did it on purpose??? Are u not embarrassed?” Another person wrote, “Instead of making silly videos, it would be better if you took it seriously. Not everything is meant to be funny.”
One individual in the Instagram comments tried to approach things from the perspective of a writer who should continually reflect on their words and how their characters are going to exist in the real world for fans. “Respectfully, I do think as authors we need to show accountability for our actions which may, whether intentionally or not, have a hurtful and lasting impact on real people who relate to our characters. The characters aren’t real, but the people who relate to them are,” they commented.
The backlash sparked an interesting conversation.
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The big question for a lot of people who have watched this controversy unfold is whether or not a writer is really deserving of all this hate when she’s apologized for any offensive comments she’s made, even when they were about someone who doesn’t actually exist.
Someone on Threads with the handle @brian_deslatte explained the importance of what’s been going on within this community and why some people are so put off by what the writer said.
“From what I can gather some people have used Shane as a stand in character for themselves and took personal offense when RR made relatively innocuous comments poking fun at her own character,” @brian_deslatte wrote. “They then used this as proof that she’s secretly problematic and are now trying to boycott and are making very serious allegations about her character.”
The subject of intersectionality has also come up throughout this discussion considering that Shane’s character is a queer Asian Canadian male. One person on Threads shared their perspective on how writers should approach this sensitive topic. “I think if you are going to write characters outside of your communities then it’s best to do your research and maybe have a consultant from those communities- as long as you do it respectfully and understand the impact of representing those identities I think it is fine,” they wrote.
Good writing is all about exposing people to different characters and perspectives, but when you’re coming at things from a place of inexperience, it’s best to do your research and consult an expert from that specific community to help create a full and authentic character.
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