Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie Reach Russian Viewers With 'Heated Rivalry'

Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie's gay ice hockey drama 'Heated Rivalry' has an 8.6 rating on Kinopoisk, the highest TV show ranking of all time on the platform, despite lacking an official Russian release.

The show's underground popularity matters because it circulates on illegal streaming platforms despite Russian laws that ban positive depictions of LGBTQ people, a trend journalist Mikhail Zygar described as "an attempt to normalize the discourse."

Georgy Soldatov, head of the Sorok Sorokov center in Moscow, said he lodged a petition with the Prosecutor General's Office and called the show's sexual content "horrifying."

Russian authorities launched a criminal probe last year into managers of a Moscow publishing house over LGBTQ content, detaining staff and placing three people under house arrest, records show.

Rights advocates warn that existing Russian laws allowing penalties up to six years in prison for involvement with what officials label "LGBT extremism" could expose people who share or host the series to prosecution.