British actor Kit Connor, known for his role as Nick Nelson in the hit Netflix series Heartstopper, slammed fans of the show after they forced him to come out as bisexual in a tweet posted on Monday, October 31.
In the tweet, the 18-year-old actor said that fans missed the show’s message and pressured him to reveal his sexuality to the public.
“[B]ack for a minute. [I]’m bi. [C]ongrats [on] forcing an 18-year-old to out himself. [I] think some of you missed the point of the show. [B]ye,” Kit wrote.
The tweet has reached over 611,000 likes and over 126,000 retweets.
Fans on social media have accused Kit of “queerbaiting,” which refers to people claiming to be a part of the LGBTQ community when they’re not. It came after the actor appeared in photos holding hands with Argentine-American actress Maia Reficco, Kit’s co-star in the upcoming film A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow.
Alice Oseman, the author of the graphic novel that Heartstopper is based on, replied to Kit’s tweet, expressing her support for the actor and her frustration with viewers of the show speculating on other people’s sexualities.
Some of Kit’s co-stars in Heartstopper, including Joe Locke, Kizzy Edgell, Rhea Norwood, and Sebastian Croft, also expressed their support for the actor.
Many fans of Heartstopper also came to Kit’s defense, with some attacking fellow fans of the show for pressuring the actor to come out.
“[H]eartstopper was the first thing to make me feel safe and accepted as a bisexual person, and seeing that hstwt (Heartstopper Twitter) bullied [K]it [C]onnor into coming out is absolutely gut-wrenching. that’s the one thing that nick nelson was afraid of, and you’ve done it to the person who embodied him,” one Twitter user said.
Maia also shared her support for Kit by replying to his tweet with a simple white heart emoji.
Swedish actors Edvin Ryding and Omar Rudberg, the stars of fellow Netflix LGBTQ series Young Royals, also expressed their love and support for Kit, with Edvin writing, “Feel for you Kit, sending all the love I have your way.”
Suppasit “Mew” Jongcheveevat, the star of the Thai boys’ love (BL) series TharnType: The Series, replied to Kit’s tweet with a heart hands emoji as a mark of support.
Apart from his role in Heartstopper, Kit is known for his roles in films and TV shows, such as Get Santa, Ready Player One, Little Joe, and His Dark Materials. He is also known for playing the young version of British musician Elton John in the Academy Award-winning biopic Rocketman.
Kit has been vocal about his frustrations with fans, especially those on Twitter, speculating about his sexuality. In an interview with the Reign with Josh Smith podcast last May, Kit said that although he is comfortable with his sexuality, he doesn’t need to label his sexuality to the public.
“For me, I just feel like I’m perfectly confident and comfortable with my sexuality, but I don’t feel the need to really, you know. I’m not too big on labels and things like that. I’m not massive about that. I don’t feel like I need to label myself, especially not publicly,” Kit said in the podcast.
On Monday, September 12, Kit tweeted that he had deleted the Twitter app.
Heartstopper received praise from both critics and audiences for its LGBTQ+ representation. It follows the romance between Charlie Spring (Locke) and Nick Nelson (Connor).
The show is currently filming its second season.
