As soon as I saw Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams sign with CAA this past week, I had a feeling of dread overcome me. Am I insane? These two were waiters three months ago, I hear your inside voice, they deserve this! Not insane quite yet, I’m afraid. Experienced in Hollywood shitfuckery, very much yes.
These two men are talented, chill, beautiful, enjoyable, and glorious. They are not a Hollywood product. You might be too excited for their rise in this industry to realize they are a threat to that same industry. To the façade that is Hollywood, the most corrupt industry, probably right after our government.
Let’s unpack the Globes, their first awards show, ever. Connor and Hudson looked majestic on the red carpet. Literally every single media outlet published their faces, over and over again, from every possible angle. Images. Videos. My entire scroll was just them. I saw no one else.
Their red-carpet interviews were the best of the night. No one, I repeat, no one is as interesting as they are. This isn’t novelty, it’s presence. It’s swag, personality, charisma.
Connor and Hudson were scheduled to sit front-center with Charli XCX and Paul Mescal. At the last minute, they were moved to the table at the back of the room. A massive slap in the face to the queer community. Visibility, anyone?
What are we doing here?
Before they presented, two UFC fighters were brought onstage, with the announcer joking that the Heated Rivalry boys are “so hot right now” they need “extra security.”
UFC preceding a queer show?
Connor was then written into a strange, timid, “scared” bit. Why would anyone sane write a joyful, bubbly, larger-than-life, confident man into a skit designed to shrink him? It makes no sense if you want to achieve a maximum impact. Unless you, erm, don’t.
Heated Rivalry gave people immense joy; made entire communities feel seen, and is currently the biggest show in the world, with over 600 million minutes of viewing only in the US alone. It’s a cultural revolution, and Hollywood didn’t know how to handle it at the Golden Globes.
Or did it?
Maybe it felt threatened, unwilling to uplift them, while remaining perfectly happy to publish their pictures and monetize on their enormous fame.
It goes to show you that the Hollywood industry wants to cash in on the boys, but at the same time, aren’t really happy that the two kids who waited tables three months ago blew them all off with only one show. Heated Rivalry, Jacob Tierney, Connor, and Hudson continue to expose everything that’s wrong with Hollywood, and many egos are not happy about it.
The skit.
It came across as an attempt to downplay Hudson and Connor’s impact, as if they’re intentionally stripping it of its weight. It doesn’t feel accidental. It felt like a preemptive strike, realizing exactly how powerful those two can be.
The wings were clipped. People didn’t cheer as much as the biggest show on earth right now deserved. Many stars in the room pretended they didn’t hear about it ot watched it.
They did. Everyone knows about it. Your mother knows about it.
A room full of egos, having two kids who waited tables a blink ago, making a cultural shift not seen in a long while.
Tight leash vibes.
Hollywood hates being cut out of the fame pipeline.
Two creators summed up my entire feeling about this fumble, so I will let them sum it up for you:
Crowdsourced fame.
“… that audience was filled with haters, jealous, mad haters, very little applause or laughter throughout their speech…”
“… these two boys didn’t have to suffer for fame; they totally leapfrogged the whole process. They didn’t have to deal with the perverts of Hollywood. The Internet liked them and decided, yeah, you’re famous now, and there’s nothing Hollywood can do about it. That’s the real issue. They hate that fame is like crowd-sourced now; it’s a democracy.”
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Did the Golden Globes fumble Heated Rivalry boys? Most def. The only question here is, purposefully or yes?
