The Brett Cooper Show, Episode 117

Title: Watching Gay P*rn Is the New SJW Fetish
Host: Brett Cooper
Date: January 10, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Brett Cooper dissects the unexpected cultural phenomena surrounding the hit TV series "Heated Rivalry," a sexually explicit drama about closeted gay hockey players that’s captured an overwhelmingly female fanbase—particularly “liberal women.” Brett explores why straight women are fascinated with gay male romance stories, the roots of this trend, and the ironies and hypocrisies she sees in how women consume media, especially explicit "smut" shows and novels. Throughout, Brett brings a blend of sarcasm, critique, and cultural analysis, tying the discussion to broader conversations about gender, sexuality, and generational shifts in values.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Heated Rivalry: Plot & Popularity

• Main Point: The show is a sensation, especially among American women, and centers on graphic gay romance between hockey players.
• Quote:

  “The only acceptable man is a gay man. And...we need to discuss women's crippling porn addictions. The gays and the chicks, the ladies and their twinks. That's really what this episode is about.” (00:00)

• The show's source material was written by Rachel Reed, a straight woman, which Brett finds significant for later points about authenticity and cultural appropriation.
• Brett highlights the shift:

  "American women are watch[ing]...what I mean sexual, I mean full on sex happening every single episode. Incredibly graphic, and a lot of it. This is what American women are watch[ing]." (01:36)

2. Cultural Impact on Hockey & Masculinity

• Main Point: The mainstreaming of the show sparks discussions about masculinity, sports culture, and LGBTQ inclusion in hockey.
• Brett defends hockey culture as one of the last “holds” against political correctness, contrasting the show’s tone and fanbase with the real values and attitudes of the NHL.

  “I do not think this show should change hockey culture. Like, hockey, in my opinion, is the last stand.” (02:43)

3. Women’s Obsession with Gay Male Romance

• Brett gives examples of headlines and viral TikToks showing how deeply women are “emotionally and sexually invested” in Heated Rivalry, many admitting the show has changed their lives.
• Memorable Moment:

  “Women are not just turned on by this show, but they are also ugly crying because it means so much to them.” (03:55)

4. Who Writes Gay Romance? Authenticity & Appropriation

• Main Point: Most gay romance fiction is written by straight (often white) women, not by gay men.
• Brett questions the authenticity and intentions behind this, noting online debates and how authors may obscure their real-life sexuality or relationships to market themselves.

  “Now it is straight white married women appropriating gay culture for their own gain, for their own sexual interests. [...] Isn't that just a little bit odd?” (05:01)

• Brett: “I don't have any problem with a straight married mom writing a gay fantasy. It's kind of weird. Write whatever you want. [...] But it does feel like she's trying to make herself seem a little bit more authentic by hiding that part of her life.” (06:57)

5. Cultural Fatigue & Political Motivations for Women’s Tastes

• Calls back to recent articles claiming it’s “embarrassing to have a boyfriend in 2025,” interpreting the women’s obsession with gay relationships as both a backlash and escapism from straight men and heteronormativity.
• Brett bluntly addresses this trend:

  “These women have decided that they are tired of those men, the straight white men of America who are leaning more conservative. And so instead they are now finding solace with these gay characters who have the...attractiveness and the sex appeal that they crave, but none of what they perceive as problematic misogyny.” (09:32)

• Notable Quote:

  “There is a hopelessness that has just been buried in the backyard of our minds for years and it feels like the dog just dug it up, so to speak.” (11:05, quoting a viral tweet about the discourse)

• She pokes fun at “overly invested” women on TikTok and critiques the trend as “making a cupcake out of a crumb.” (12:10)

6. The Paradox of Liberal Women and Masculinity

• Brett points out the irony that women who claim to “hate masculinity” and “the patriarchy” are fervently attracted to a hyper-masculine, emotionally unavailable, even toxic character.
• Quote:

  “[Women] have built their entire modern identity and political identity around hating men. And yet, at the end of the day, biology still wins. They are still attracted to these men...everything that they claim to hate about men, about masculinity, about the patriarchy, and yet women are literally crying and drooling over him on social media.” (14:57)

7. Women's Porn Consumption: The Double Standard

• Main Point: Mainstream “smut” novels, TV, and movies consumed by women are essentially pornographic, but lack the same stigma attached to men’s consumption of porn.
• Brett compares Heated Rivalry, Bridgerton, and Fifty Shades of Grey directly to traditional pornography.

  “It is porn. Bridgerton. Sorry. If you like it, that is porn. Fifty Shades of Gray is porn. These extremely graphic sex scenes...are no different than what the men of the world might be watching.” (18:53)

• She critiques the rationalizations women use (“It’s literature,” “it’s not on PornHub”) and calls out the hypocrisy:

  “We complain all day long about men objectifying and sexualizing women. Thanks to Porn brain, women are doing the same thing in their own way.” (19:54)

• Brett also notes that women are now openly objectifying and sexualizing real male athletes at hockey games—a behavior that would be fiercely condemned if done by men to women.

8. Impact on Real Sports & Public Behavior

• Women are making edits of real NHL players, sexualizing their interactions, posting about ‘star-crossed lovers’—which Brett finds bizarre and unfairly tolerated.

  “Why do people—genuinely, like women—why are you being so weird?” (22:45)

• She shares a TikTok from a female hockey fan calling out the behavior as inappropriate and making games uncomfortable for both athletes and other genuine supporters.
• Brett’s summary:

  “If you wanna watch the show, watch the show and let that be...these women bending over backwards trying to rationalize why they are so turned on and why they love these quote unquote problematic men while simultaneously shitting on straight men in real life...” (24:34)

• She draws the line:

  “That’s weird when men do that to women and it’s also weird when the roles are reversed. That’s it. That is the line in the sand.” (25:55)

9. Hollywood, Sex, and Storytelling

• Brett closes with a call for more meaningful storytelling that doesn't "rot America's brain," criticizing reliance on graphic sex as a hook—even quoting an actor from Heated Rivalry who admits, "we use the sex to rope you in." (26:45)

  “Guess what, Hollywood, you can make interesting TV and tell unique stories about flawed characters and love stories without contributing to the rotting of America's brain.” (27:10)

Notable Quotes and Moments

• “My eyes, Amir, my eyes. I can't deal with this.” (04:31, reacting to a friend’s recommendation)
• “Are like the women of America, are you okay? I know the question is no, but I feel like I just rhetorically needed to ask it anyway.” (05:05)
• “Women are literally coming to games being like, kiss. Do you love each other? Whatever it is.” (23:25)
• “This is not just a big studio with a higher production value. It is as simple as that. Maybe it has a little bit more of a story to round out the sex, but it is mostly sex and it is driven by sex.” (26:25)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00-05:00 — “Heated Rivalry” overview, female fan obsession, and sex in the show
• 05:00-08:55 — Authorship of gay romance, authenticity, cultural appropriation
• 09:25-14:00 — Cultural/political context: Women, masculinity, and escapism through gay romance
• 14:00-18:50 — Biological attraction, hypocrisy in women’s attitudes toward masculinity
• 18:50-24:00 — Porn discourse: Women’s media habits, calling out the double standard
• 24:00-27:00 — Fan behaviors, sexualizing real athletes, boundaries and public decency
• 27:00-End — Hollywood’s fixation on sex, plea for better stories

Conclusion

Brett Cooper uses "Heated Rivalry" as a lens to analyze deep currents in gender, media, and modern sexual culture. Her central argument: that liberal women’s fixation on gay romance is both a symptom and a parody of current cultural contradictions—driven by unresolved feelings about masculinity, politics, and sexual desire. She calls out the double standards in how women consume and publicly discuss sexualized content, especially when it crosses over to real life and real people. Throughout, her tone is pointed, sarcastic, and unfiltered, aiming to provoke both thought and controversy.