{"id":218620,"date":"2026-01-24T17:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/24\/empty-netters-podcast-host-breaks-silence-on-heated-rivalry-leaked-texts-where-he-called-the-show-trash\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T17:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:31:24","slug":"empty-netters-podcast-host-breaks-silence-on-heated-rivalry-leaked-texts-where-he-called-the-show-trash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/24\/empty-netters-podcast-host-breaks-silence-on-heated-rivalry-leaked-texts-where-he-called-the-show-trash\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Empty Netters\u2019 Podcast Host Breaks Silence on \u2018Heated Rivalry\u2019 Leaked Texts Where He Called the Show \u2018Trash\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/tags\/dan-powers\/\" title=\"Dan Powers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Dan Powers<\/strong><\/a> is addressing all of the backlash after his texts about <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/tags\/heated-rivalry\/\" title=\"Heated Rivalry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Heated Rivalry<\/strong><\/a><\/em> were leaked.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dan <\/strong>and brother <strong>Chris Powers<\/strong> are both straight, former hockey players that co-host the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@emptynetterspod\" onclick=\"getOutboundLink(&#039;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@emptynetterspod&#039;); return false;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Empty Netters<\/a><\/em> hockey podcast and have often raved over the show and even had star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/tags\/robbie-g-k\/\" title=\"Robbie G K\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Robbie G.K.<\/strong><\/a> on their podcast.<\/p>\n<p>However, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsports.com\/2026\/1\/22\/24126217\/empty-netters-heated-rivalry-host-dan-powers-show-trash-podcast\/\" onclick=\"getOutboundLink(&#039;https:\/\/www.outsports.com\/2026\/1\/22\/24126217\/empty-netters-heated-rivalry-host-dan-powers-show-trash-podcast\/&#039;); return false;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Outsports<\/a><\/em> recently reported that in a series of leaked text messages, <strong>Dan<\/strong> called <em>Heated Rivalry<\/em> \u201ctrash.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"hidearticle\"><em>Keep reading to find out more\u2026<\/em><\/strong><span id=\"more-2175178\"><\/span>\u201cI think these losers who made this show are cowards,\u201d <strong>Dan<\/strong> wrote in one text and in a another, he wrote, \u201cThis is the trash they make because it panders, it\u2019s provocative, and it checks inclusivity boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After facing a lot of backlash from fans online, <strong>Dan<\/strong> posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FMFF2EVmyCY\" onclick=\"getOutboundLink(&#039;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FMFF2EVmyCY&#039;); return false;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video<\/a> on Thursday (January 22) where he addressed the situation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that a ton of people are shocked by this, confused by this, and frustrated by this, and I take that very, very seriously,\u201d <strong>Dan<\/strong> said. \u201cAnd I want to say that this has caught me completely off guard and, frankly, is super-disappointing.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He confirmed that the texts are real, but noted that he sent them before he had actually seen the majority of the show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe timeline implied in this article is completely false and inaccurate and it suggests that we were watching this show, sending messages like this, while at the same time reviewing it and speaking poorly about it, which is completely inaccurate,\u201d <strong>Dan<\/strong> said. \u201cThese messages were sent over a week before we had ever watched the show and before we had ever posted a review.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He went on to share screenshots of the texts that he sent with someone he \u201cconsidered a good friend,\u201d noting that it was \u201ccrushing that this person would try to execute an attack\u201d on his podcast.<\/p>\n<div class=\"center\" style=\"margin: auto; width: 85%; clear: both\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Here Are The Texts\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FMFF2EVmyCY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cSo here\u2019s my lame reasoning,\u201d <strong>Dan<\/strong> read from one of his texts. \u201cAs a writer\/And someone who works in the entertainment industry\/This show ENRAGES me.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think these losers who made this show are cowards,\u201d he continued. \u201cThey\u2019re Canadian for crying out loud \u2013 and in a space that has hockey fans DYING for a good, quality, well written, and AUTHENTIC hockey show\u2026this is the trash they make because it panders, it\u2019s provocative, and it checks inclusivity boxes.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><strong>Dan<\/strong> insisted that the texts were taken out of context in the original report.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI prefaced all of them by saying \u2018My lame writer take\u2019 \u2014 implying and telling my friend, \u2018This is my jealous hyperbolic ridiculous take\u2019 because anyone who knows me, or anyone who watches this podcast, knows that I use absurd hyperbolic language to drive home a point,\u201d <strong>Dan<\/strong> explained. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean I mean those things.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He went on to say that his own experience of trying to write a hockey series drove his initial criticism of <em>Heated Rivalry<\/em>, of which he said he only saw 10 minutes of at the time he sent the texts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was using that language because as a writer in Hollywood who has tried and failed to make a hockey show, an authentic hockey drama, I then said privately that just another hockey smut romance show was being made instead of being authentic,\u201d <strong>Dan<\/strong> said. \u201cThat was me being uninformed. I hadn\u2019t watched the show yet.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><strong>Dan<\/strong> noted that the his text controversy has saddened him because it casts doubt on <em>Empty Netters<\/em>\u2018 enthusiasm and praise for <em>Heated Rivalry<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow the people that we enjoyed this wonderful situation and this wonderful moment with are made to feel like they can\u2019t trust what they saw,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve now potentially made these people feel like they can\u2019t trust the authenticity and the lovely nature of those moments, and that breaks my heart.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He reiterated that he genuinely loves <em>Heated Rivalry <\/em>and has a lot of admiration for the show\u2019s creators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I was saying was not directed at the amazing people who made this show. It was totally taken out of context,\u201d <strong>Dan<\/strong> concluded. \u201cFor the people who are upset or angry still, or confused, I totally understand, but I\u2019d like to just say, give us a chance. Give me a chance.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>If you didn\u2019t see,<em> Heated Rivalry<\/em> star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/tags\/francois-arnaud\/\" title=\"Francois Arnaud\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Fran\u00e7ois Arnaud<\/strong><\/a> responded to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/2026\/01\/17\/heated-rivalry-star-francois-arnaud-addresses-online-harassment-talks-navigating-fame\/\" onclick=\"getOutboundLink(&#039;https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/2026\/01\/17\/heated-rivalry-star-francois-arnaud-addresses-online-harassment-talks-navigating-fame\/&#039;); return false;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">all the harassment he\u2019s been facing online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v3.2&appId=145071315902360\"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.justjared.com\/2026\/01\/24\/empty-netters-podcast-host-breaks-silence-on-heated-rivalry-leaked-texts-where-he-called-the-show-trash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dan Powers is addressing all of the backlash after his texts about Heated Rivalry were leaked. Dan and brother Chris Powers are both straight, former hockey players that co-host the Empty Netters hockey podcast and have often raved over the show and even had star Robbie G.K. on their podcast. However, Outsports recently reported that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":218622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-218620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lifestyle"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}