Did Peloton Cut Ties With Heated Rivalry Star Hudson Williams After his Swastika Photos Went Viral? Fans Are Confused, But Here’s the Truth

Fans are questioning Peloton's relationship with Hudson Williams after controversial high school photos resurfaced online and campaign content featuring the actor disappeared from social media. The timing has fueled widespread speculation and debate across the internet.

via: Queerty

The Heated Rivalry star has been the subject of intense backlash after a high school photo resurfaced on TMZ showing the actor with, among other black markings on his face, a swastika. The internet remains sharply divided on how to meet the crisis. Do we give Williams a pass for doing something dumb in his teen years? Or do we hold his feet to the fire?

Over the past few days, it would seem like Peloton chose the latter option. When fans noticed billboards with Williams’ sweaty, Fame-soundtracked ad removed—along with references to the ad campaign wiped from the official Peloton social media accounts—they assumed the worst.

The video—which instantly got a viral fan remix to the tune of Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero”—became a sensation in its own right when it debuted in April, thanks to the powerful thirst of thousands of Heated Rivalry fans eager to watch Williams sweat and strut his stuff on a treadmill. But now, those billboards are gone, and the campaign seems to have been wiped from the official Peloton account.

The twist here is that Peloton has already responded, saying that they removed Williams’ campaign because it came to a natural, contractually agreed-upon end, not because of the current controversy.

But fans still aren’t buying it.

Not only did Peloton delete the original social media posts concerning the campaign, they’ve unfollowed Williams as well. One Williams fan account added some clarity, explaining that Peloton only follows athletes on the official account, not actors, even if they’ve previously starred in campaigns.

A source from the brand confirmed to the gossip site Deux Moi that the campaign removal had nothing to do with the resurfaced photos.

Even if it has nothing to do with what just happened this week, fans agree that the timing couldn’t be poorer. Though brands tend to be quite quick about distancing themselves from any whiff of scandal, the circumstances surrounding Williams are more complex than the average celebrity faux pas. While many viewers were disturbed by the images of Williams, others saw the photos as the result of a racist smear campaign by bad faith actors.

Whatever Peloton’s relationship to the drama, deleting the modern equivalent of Michelangelo’s David is definitely a sad choice. In addition to showing us Williams in many tantalizing positions, the video’s director Bethany Vargas has also been the force behind some of the most viral ads of the past few years, including the Gap “woke jeans” masterpiece with Katseye and Lady Gaga‘s video for “Abracadabra.”

But she really broke the mold (and our brains) with that Peloton spot. The ad was wonderful while it lasted, and thanks to many Internet heros, it will be preserved in perpetuity online… just not on the official Peloton account.

This week, we’ve seen firsthand how nothing on the internet ever really disappears, in ways both wonderful and terrible. Williams getting down on a treadmill, however, will live rent free in our hearts and online, no matter what dark forces try to erase it from the record—especially that Bonnie Tyler remix.