Kit Connor called out Netflix’s Heartstopper fans who forced him to address his sexuality — after previously taking a break from social media due to public speculation about his love live.
“Back for a minute. i’m bi. congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. i think some of you missed the point of the show. bye,” the actor, 18, tweeted on Monday, October 31, nearly two months after announcing his departure from the online platform.
In response, Connor received an outpouring of love from the Heartstopper cast and crew. The author of the Heartstopper graphic novels, Alice Oseman, replied, “I truly don’t understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating about sexualities and judging based on stereotypes. I hope all those people are embarrassed as F—K. Kit you are amazing 💖.”
Kizzy Edgell, who plays Darcy Olsson, wrote in the comments section, “I love u kit im sorry this has been so disgustingly rough on you. been treated so unfairly.”
Fans of the hit streaming series also slammed trolls who made Connor open up about his personal life. “I hope those people will feel embarrassed for the rest of their lives because they so deserve it. kit is one of the sweetest people to ever exist and deserves the whole world and most certainly not this,” one person wrote via Twitter.
Meanwhile, another social media user questioned the intentions of those sending hate to the England native, tweeting, “I really hope everyone who accused him of ‘queerbaiting’ just bc he didn’t explicitly state his sexuality and forced him to out himself is embarassed rn.”
‘Heartstopper’ stars William Gao, Yasmin Finney, Joe Locke and Kit Connor. James Veysey/Shutterstock
The Rocketman star rose to fame earlier this year after starring in the groundbreaking series Heartstopper on Netflix. The show, which was released in April, focuses on high school student Charlie who found himself with a crush on his new friend Nick after being outed. The popular rugby player, for his part, starts to question his sexuality after growing closer to Charlie. The heartwarming drama was renewed for a second and third season.
Amid the show’s debut, Connor gushed about how Heartstopper offered young fans the ability to see themselves on screen.
“One of the biggest motivations is the lack of representation for bisexual characters, especially male bisexual characters. There really aren’t that many [on screen], though I know Sex Education has a major male bisexual character. But you know, this show is very much focused around that,” he told Entertainment Weekly in May. “Like, one of the biggest storylines is Nick exploring his sexuality. I suppose one of the challenges of a show like this is it’s never a ‘one size fits all’ kind of thing.”
Connor continued: “We really have tried our best to be as inclusive and representative as possible. but at the same time, everyone’s experience in life is different. We very much tried our best to portray that and create a safe space for the queer community in particular.”
Two months later, the His Dark Materials star noted he had no immediate plans to publicly come out.
“I mean, for me, I just feel like I’m perfectly confident and comfortable in my sexuality, but I don’t feel the need to really, you know, I’m not too big on labels and things like that,” he explained on the “Reign with Josh Smith” podcast in May. “I’m not massive about that, and I don’t feel like I need to label myself, especially not publicly.”
Connor also questioned fans who felt comfortable speculating about someone’s sexual orientation, saying, “It feels a bit strange to make assumptions about a person’s sexuality just based on hearing their voice or seeing their appearance. I feel like that’s a very interesting, slightly problematic sort of assumption to make.”
