Heated Rivalry Creator Jacob Tierney Slams NHL: “Every Day” They Prove It’s Not Safe

While Jacob Tierney may have brought us the gay hockey romance Heated Rivalry, one of the biggest queer cultural phenomena of the decade, the creator and showrunner slammed real-life men’s hockey for its “toxic” culture.While appearing on Radio Andy, Bravo star Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM radio show, Tierney had an immediate response to the host’s claim that the NHL had “capitalized” on Heated Rivalry’s success and “met the moment.” “Have they?” Tierney responded. “Have they not?” Cohen said.“No!” Tierney continued. “They’ve just hired four rapists to play for them. The NHL is not meeting the moment… The NHL has- I think the NHL has a lot of ongoing work to do.” As of December 2025, the NHL has fully reinstated five former Hockey Canada players — Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod — who were acquitted of sexual assault charges in July of that year, per ESPN. The five had been criminally charged in 2024 over an alleged 2018 incident of sexual assault against a woman in a hotel room. They all pleaded not guilty.Since their acquittal, three of the five have been offered an NHL contract with a team — which the league allowed in October of last year, ahead of their full reinstatement in December. In 2026, Formenton joined the Edmonton Oilers, while Dubé signed a contract with St. Louis Blues; Carter Hart signed with Las Vegas Golden Knights last October.Cohen went on to say that Tierney and the Heated Rivalry team had “handed the NHL a gift.” “Yeah, I agree, and it is up to the NHL,” Tierney added. “It is up to the NHL to actually convince anybody that this is a safe space for people. Because every day they want to prove that it's not.” He continued, “They are not, they are not doing what they should be doing to make their sport an inclusive place.” Tierney finally added, “They really need to deal with their own toxic culture. And they’re not, you know?”Tierney is not the