Heartstopper's Kit Connor 'quits' Twitter after he was accused of queerbaiting

13 September 2022, 16:30

Heartstopper Cast Interview Each Other

By Rachel Michaella Finn

“This is a silly silly app. bit bored of it now, deleting twitter :)”

Loading audio...

Kit Connor has said he will delete Twitter after he was accused of ‘queerbaiting’ when a video of him allegedly holding hands with a female friend appeared online.

The Heartstopper star was reportedly filmed holding hands with A Cuban Girl’s Guide co-star Maia Reficco while in Paris.

Kit plays a bisexual character in Heartstopper and has previously spoken out about why he doesn’t want to label his own sexuality, but some have accused the 18-year-old of queerbaiting after the video surfaced, leading the actor to announce he was leaving Twitter.

Heartstopper Kit Connor. Picture: Getty / Netflix

As of today (Sept 13), Kit's Twitter account is still live. But yesterday (Sept 12), he tweeted: “this is a silly silly app. bit bored of it now, deleting twitter :)”.

In response to one commenter asking what happened, one fan explained: “People are accusing him of queer baiting again because there's an 11 second vid of him and Maia walking down a street in Paris holding hands. So...ya. They're also now starting to attack her.”

Queerbaiting is essentially when a celebrity or TV show uses tactics to appeal to an LGBT+ audience, without confirming their sexuality or following through on hints of being a queer story. It’s when a queer identity is hinted at, but not actually confirmed or depicted, leaving some fans or viewers to feel like they’ve been tricked.

However, fans have rushed to Kit’s defence, explaining that his sexuality - and choice whether to talk about it publicly or not - is no-one else’s business.

this is a silly silly app. bit bored of it now, deleting twitter :)
— Kit Connor (@kit_connor) September 12, 2022

One person wrote: “PSA: unlabelled people are not ‘queerbaiting’ or straight because they don’t want to use a label. Someone else’s sexuality is none of your business. It got so bad that Kit Connor has decided to leave Twitter. Shame on those who bullied him off the app.”

Another person added: “ppl who say kit connor is queerbaiting i literally dgaf like you do not know what sexuality he is, if you saw a picture of him holding hands w a girl, it could have been a friendship, or he could be BI OR PAN or anything else, literally leave him alone, it’s insane”.

A third person wrote: “why the minute an unlabeled/queer male celebrity is seen out with a female like let’s say for example kit connor (cause this was recent) their whole identity is then labeled as queerbaiting…like why are you erasing multi gender attraction…like thanks for the invalidation!”

📣 PSA: unlabelled people are not ‘queerbaiting’ or straight because they don’t want to use a label. Someone else’s sexuality is none of your business.

It got so bad that Kit Connor has decided to leave Twitter. Shame on those who bullied him off the app
— Carina 💗💜💙 🍂 (@waterfallwriter) September 12, 2022

ppl who say kit connor is queerbaiting i literally dgaf like you do not know what sexuality he is, if you saw a picture of him holding hands w a girl, it could have been a friendship, or he could be BI OR PAN or anything else, literally leave him alone, it’s insane
— haden? 🌺 👑 (@hadazealt) September 13, 2022

why the minute an unlabeled/queer male celebrity is seen out with a female like let’s say for example kit connor (cause this was recent) their whole identity is then labeled as queerbaiting…like why are you erasing multi gender attraction…like thanks for the invalidation!
— noa 🖌 (@music4matilda) September 13, 2022

One of the messages behind Heartstopper is that you should never assume someone's sexuality. Just because Kit is yet to say anything public about his sexuality, he also doesn't owe anyone any information about how he identifies.

Back in May, Kit took to social media to slam those making assumptions about his sexuality online.
"Twitter is so funny man. apparently some people on here know my sexuality better than I do…" he tweeted.

Speaking about playing a bisexual character with Metro, Kit previously said: "I think that’s really special, going into great detail about his journey as a character and his mental struggle...It’s a real honour to be able to play Nick because it’s such an under represented kind of character, really."