The stand-up comedian Margaret Cho is a woman of many convictions, most of them aimed directly at the current administration. But it seems those convictions have come at a cost to her IMDB page. On a recent episode of the I Never Liked You podcast, Cho told hosts Matteo Lane and Nick Smith that she was offered a role in the breakout HBO Max series Heated Rivalry but felt she had to decline for her own safety.
The show, which follows the decade-long secret romance between rival hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, is filmed in Canada. For Cho, a San Francisco native and a vocal critic of President Trump’s immigration policies, the prospect of crossing an international border felt like a gamble she wasn’t willing to take.
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“Last year, I got a pilot script for a show that I really loved,” Cho said during the interview. “But it shot in Canada, and I was so scared because I’m so vocal about hating ICE and hating this administration.” Cho expressed a very specific fear: that her political activism would make her a target for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “I was like, I will get detained at the border and I will be put in ICE detention if I go.”
The decision was not an easy one. Cho describes a period of intense distress, during which she consulted with several people before ultimately walking away from the project. “I was super upset about it, and I said no. And it was Heated Rivalry.”
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Since its premiere in November 2025, Heated Rivalry has become a cultural phenomenon, turning lead actors Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie into overnight stars. The show has been praised for its depiction of queer romance within the hyper-masculine world of professional sports.
Cho, for her part, has become a fan of the show she could have starred in. She told the podcast hosts that she has even hosted rewatch parties. However, the experience is bittersweet. “It kills me,” she said. “It’s all because of Trump.” While she did not name the specific character she was meant to play, she noted that when she watches Williams on screen, she feels as though she is looking at her own child.
Looking Toward Season Two
The comedian’s fears are rooted in a broader context of rising anti-Asian sentiment and aggressive immigration enforcement. In previous interviews, Cho has described the “casual racism” of the political climate as a symptom of a deeper, repetitive history of hate in America. For a Korean-American woman who has made a career out of being loud and visible, the current environment has led to a self-imposed limit on her travel and public time.
However, there may be a second chance for Cho to join the “Heated Rivalry” universe. With a second season currently in development, she teased that she has been in contact with the show’s creators about a possible appearance. “We’ll see,” she said.
