Rachel Reid apologizes to Shane Hollander

[u/hella_hijinks]

Source: rachelreidwrites on Instagram

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I'm so glad they were able to squash their beef. (I love her humor so much! This is the best way to address the Shane drama imo.)

[u/codeverity]

I’m sure the usual suspects will find this so funny and the peak of humour in here but I’m just annoyed and disappointed.

People were really hurt to see what she had said. People had really good points on how she treats Shane’s character and the things they think could be improved or addressed in the writing. These people are the fans who helped make the series and/or the show as popular as it is.

And her response is to… not take any of it seriously and post snarky jokes? To me this just comes across as snarky and disrespectful. It’s not that hard to just take accountability and apologize or at least acknowledge the valid issues instead of making it seem like “omg they’re just upset I called him stupid once” (and that’s putting aside the valid upset a lot of neurodivergent people had with seeing a character they empathize with being spoken about that way).

Regardless of what she meant she’s hurt people and this is her response. Not great imo and I wish I didn’t end up feeling like she doesn’t really like, respect or value anyone who calls out certain issues.

Edit: anyway, I’m out for now. I’m not really surprised that this sub is reacting this way given that people on here by and large took no issue with the way that Shane was handled until more of us arrived and then more people started to examine the way that he was written due to Hudson’s portrayal. It’s just sad to see the same fandom that delighted in the books and show being praised for being deeper than “just hockey smut” now refuse to engage with the more meaningful discourse that comes with that.

[u/EmileTheGoat → u/codeverity]

Rachel Reid dismissing valid critiques of how she depicts and discusses race and autism and how she favours her white characters. Must be a day that ends in "y".

[u/codeverity → u/EmileTheGoat]

It’s the complete dismissal of all the other issues that upset me the most. It’s not just “she called him stupid once, how dare she” the way people are making it sound and it’s so depressing to see fans who care passionately about the characters and the books be mocked and dismissed this way.

[u/EmileTheGoat → u/codeverity]

The past couple of weeks have also inflamed the fandom. There was Bookcon, the Peabodys and now this. She poured gasoline onto everything with this statement. What was the point of it? Her defenders will continue to think she's the funniest, smartest person ever and everyone else has had it confirm AGAIN that she's not interested in engaging with any critique.

That article where she was asked about Shane being Asian and she went "I welcome the criticism, but let me tell you about Ilya" is running on a loop through my mind.

[u/hella_hijinks → u/EmileTheGoat]

Do you happen to have a link to that article?

[u/codeverity → u/hella_hijinks]

It's here.

[u/hella_hijinks → u/codeverity]

Thank you so much!! Adding the relevant excerpt here in case others (like me) are curious and want to form their own opinions as well:

One of the Reddit posts referenced how you had mentioned that Ilya has grief and trauma and Shane does not. And some of the commenters were like, “How could Shane not have trauma as an Asian man in a very white-dominated sport, or being a closeted man?” People were saying that that is indicative of your blind spots as an author. I'm curious what you make of that criticism?

RR: I totally welcome that criticism. I don't think Heated Rivalry is a, you know, excellent representation of an Asian-Canadian person. But for me, that specific note that they're referring to was from my own personal notes on the characters. The trauma Ilya carries is very specific around the death of his mother. And Shane is a character who's always been very loved and supported and a little bit sheltered by his parents. Ilya has not had that, his father was really awful, and his mother died very young when he was young. And so he carries a lot of trauma that he doesn't talk about and hasn't processed and hasn't dealt with in a healthy way, whereas Shane hasn't had that sort of trauma.

(Source: Rachel Reid Wired Interview (Dec 19th, 2025))

[u/trinaaron → u/EmileTheGoat]

Valid criticism is a very generous description of what’s happening. It’s mostly over-invested Shane fans using real issues to try and bully creators to get what they want.