9-1-1 star Oliver Stark slams haters trolling Buck’s bisexuality: ‘I truly don’t care…’

The American first responder drama series starring Stark as Evan Buckley debuted in 2018, but its “long time coming” surprise kiss, exploring the pivotal character’s bisexuality, was only delivered in 2024. 9-1-1 Season 7 Episode 4, which aired on April 4, officially confirmed the firefighter’s sexuality with a same-sex kiss. The heartwarming moment united fans and non-viewers alike, as many others recalled endless waiting periods, hoping for a more true-to-heart treatment of their beloved characters. In Evan Buckley, all that lost potential finally came to fruition.

Oliver Stark, who plays the character, was “humbled and overwhelmed by the positive reaction” and shared his emotional confession on his Instagram story. However, he didn’t forget to slam shut the door on any form of homophobic hatred either. Here’s how he responded to both the character’s well-wishers and online trolls after the episode.

Oliver Stark responds to 9-1-1 Evan Buckley’s character development over the years

He began his message by sharing that he “couldn’t be prouder” of how things had turned out for his character, especially after he kissed Louis Ferrigno Jr’s character Tommy Kinnard.

Also read | Mean Girls star Avantika barraged with unsolicited online hate as live-action Tangled movie rumours spin out of control

Taking the less significant online hate in stride, he continued: “If you are one of the smaller group of people commenting on my posts about how this had ruined the show. I would like you to know that I truly don’t care.”

Stark described his show as one “about love and inclusion.” Therefore, it has “featured queer relationships from the very beginning, including a beautiful Black lesbian marriage played out by two of the best actresses…”

He again turned to the homophobic backlash and addressed it by concluding his message: “If one character finding a new face to his sexuality and realising his bisexuality is your deal breaker – I fear you’ve missed the entire point of the show. ”

“You are not required to announce your departure,” he said to all those declaring their exit from the fandom after the Season 7 kiss between Buck and Tommy.

Although fans have shipped Buck with Ryan Guzman’s character, Eddie, for a long time, they were delighted to see the showrunners accepting his truth one way or another. In a previous discussion with Variety, Stark highlighted the importance of wanting to tell “a lighthearted love story that happens to be a queer love story.”

Also read | Vanderpump Rules Season 11 Episode 11: Katie Maloney has her eyes on Tom Schwartz’s new boo | Watch preview

He recently also posted a behind-the-scenes picture from the set on Instagram, with its caption beginning as “Finding my light!” Countless fans came out in support of the latest development. One of the top-liked comments on the post read: “as a bisexual man…. i dont even know where to start. this means everything to me. thank you for portraying and loving buck the way you do. youre going to do this so much justice and its going to change television forever.”

Another fan wrote, “as a bisexual who has identified with buck for over five years i can’t even begin to tell you how much this means to me. thank u mister stark.”

9-1-1 Season 7 premiered on March 14, 2024. Although the series’ original network, Fox, cancelled the show after six seasons, ABC eventually picked it and helped bring Buck’s awakening full circle. It’s streaming on Hulu.

The procedural drama, also starring Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, Jennifer Love Hewitt and others, was renewed for an eighth season in April 2024.