Carney jokingly takes credit for Heated Rivalry's success: 'I greenlit this thing. I stood up to the Americans'

After a striking speech at Davos, Mark Carney opted for a different tone as he supported the Canadian film industry in Ottawa.

“Do the leg thing,” Carney asked actor Hudson Williams as they stood together to take photos on Thursday night, The Guardian reports. Williams is a B.C.-born actor and one of the lead stars of the popular HBO ice hockey drama, Heated Rivalry. The show is based on a novel in a series written by N.S. author Rachel Reid and explores the love story of two secretly gay hockey players.

Carney during a speech later in the evening said that studios “south of the border” wanted the content of the show toned down. “What is the point of that?” he said light-heartedly, as seen during the seven and a half minute long speech . Carney said the show’s creator Jacob Tierney “did the smart thing. He came home to Canada.”

“I’m a politician, I’m not above taking credit for the Canadian funding that helped you share this story with the world,” the PM said. “I may not have been here when the decision was made, but I am here now. I greenlit this thing. I stood up to the Americans.”

He further said that the show could only be made in Canada as the country “celebrates what makes us different.”

“They’re also two young men who are terrified of being their fullest selves. And we live in an increasingly dangerous, divided and intolerant world and the hard-fought rights of the 2SLGBTQI+ community are under threat,” Carney said during his speech.

Carney was attending Prime Time, an annual conference hosted by the Canadian Media Producers Association, last night. His office said in a statement that Carney “will participate in an event to highlight the strength of the Canadian film and television sector.”

On the red carpet as they posed for photos, Williams gave Carney a fleece that also appears on the show. The jacket is a white zip-up with red maple leaves on the arms and the word Canada on the back.

The fleece has been a hit among people on social media since it first appeared on the show to the point that the show’s production company, Accent Aigu Entertainment, collaborated with Canadian-owned clothing brand Province of Canada to produce and market the product.

Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady on Wednesday said in a statement that the collaboration happened solely because of the fans. The fleece is an online hit, just like the show, and the fans even launched a petition asking Team Canada to make the jacket its official merchandise at the Winter Olympics 2026. The petition garnered nearly 4,000 signatures.

“We’ve listened closely to what (fans) have been asking for and the fleece jacket has been at the top of that list,” Tierney said in a press release . “We’re so excited to partner with Province of Canada. As a Canadian-based, independent apparel brand that does amazing work sourcing and manufacturing high-quality clothing, we share a common ethos.”

• Leslie Roberts: As a news anchor, I was forced to be silent. Heated Rivalry shows how hockey players can come out
• Allan Stratton: 'Heated Rivalry' is a charming love story that isn't preachy

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