Kit Connor from Netflix hit Heartstopper says he was ‘forced’ to come out – 7NEWS
The 18-year-old star of popular Netflix show Heartstopper says he was “forced” into publicly coming out as bisexual.
English teen Kit Connor stars in the series, a coming-of-age romantic comedy about a gay schoolboy, Charlie Spring, who falls in love with his classmate Nick Nelson.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Rebel Wilson responds after ‘outing’ controversy.
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Connor, who plays Nelson, took to social media after a hiatus, slamming those he said “forced” him to declare his preferences after speculation raged online about his sexuality.
Some fans had even accused Connor of so-called “queerbaiting” – hinting at being gay or bisexual in order to appeal to a queer audience.
“Back for a minute. I’m bi. Congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself,” his terse message read.
“I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye.”
Connor’s tweet prompted an outpouring of support from fans of the show, as well as other cast members and the author Alice Oseman, who wrote the graphic novel on which the show is based.
“I truly don’t understand how people can watch Heartstopper and then gleefully spend their time speculating about sexualities and judging based on stereotypes,” Oseman wrote.
“I hope all these people are embarrassed as f***.
“Kit you are amazing.”
“I love u Kit, I’m sorry this has been so disgustingly rough on you,” added Kizzy Edgell, who plays Darcy Olsson in the show.
“Been treated so unfairly.”
Connor’s tweet has drawn more than 24,000 comments and more than 439,000 “likes”, with thousands of fans chiming in to slam those who had made Connor feel that he needed to out himself.
“You know you didn’t have to do that, right? We love you so much,” one fan wrote.
“He is a 18 years old boy (sic), maybe that was ‘cause he didn’t know what to do in the situation and everybody is talking about his sexuality and more,” another observed.
“Proud of you for coming out but I’m so sorry it had to be like this,” wrote a third.
“Man, some people really need to mind their own business. Sorry this happened to you Kit,” said another.
“It’s really sad the people forced him to and didn’t give him time.”
Rebel’s outing
Connor’s self-outing follows Australian star Rebel Wilson’s revelation of the “pain” she felt after being publicly outed.
Wilson responded on Monday after the Sydney Morning Herald was condemned by the Australian Press Council for “outing” her relationship with girlfriend Ramona Agruma.
The Pitch Perfect star has since released a statement on her social media slamming the “grubby behaviour” and sharing the “pain” of having to announce her new relationship prematurely.
Wilson, 42, announced her relationship with the American fashion designer Agruma in June, a month after publicly revealing she was “happily in a relationship”.
However, soon after she made the announcement, a writer from the Sydney Morning Herald called out the actress who “opted to gazump the story”.
In June, gossip columnist Andrew Hornery reportedly contacted the actress and gave her two days to comment before he would out her and publish a story on her same-sex relationship with Agruma.
The outlet has since removed the article, and Hornery called it a “big mistake”.
Wilson stayed silent until the Australian Press Council condemned the publication, stating that the article was “likely to cause substantial offence and distress”.
“Just seeing the news that the Australian Press Council has condemned the Sydney Morning Herald and their journalists for their recent grubby behaviour in trying to out my same-sex relationship,” Wilson wrote.
“And while I didn’t personally ask for any action to be taken I am glad that this has been officially recorded and recognised.
“Their actions did cause Ramona and I a lot of distress and while we’ve remained classy, there are still pains from having to rush this news publicly which we are dealing with,” she continued.
“We move on, focusing on all the absolutely amazing new things in our life though!
“Sending love to everyone, #loveislove.”