Billy Porter is back to slamming Harry Styles for being the first man featured in a dress on a Vogue cover — resurfacing old gripes … and taking down Anna Wintour while he’s at it.
The actor, who’s gay, dished to the Telegraph about his problem with Harry being tapped as the poster boy of genderfluid/non-binary fashion back in 2020 — which, at the time, kicked up a lot of controversy and opinions … including some fiery ones from Billy himself.
You might recall … Billy said he was actually the catalyst for the men-in-dresses trend that’s been percolating in Hollywood of late — and lamented the fact that HS was picked over him.
He added, “He doesn’t care, he’s just doing it because it’s the thing to do. This is politics for me. This is my life. I had to fight my entire life to get to the palace where I could wear a dress to the Oscars and not be gunned down. All he has to do is be white and straight.”
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After that, Billy apologized on the ‘Late Show,’ telling Stephen Colbert he didn’t mean to dirty up Harry’s name with his opinion — and that the conversation was bigger than just him.
Now, after more than 2 years … BP is re-airing his grievances, and he’s again insisting Harry is, in fact, straight — despite HS having yet to publicly label himself or his sexuality.
Billy says, “It’s not Harry Styles’s fault that he happens to be white and cute and straight and fit into the infrastructure that way. That’s why he’s on the cover. Non-binary blah blah blah blah. No. It doesn’t feel good to me. You’re using my community — or your people are using my community — to elevate you. You haven’t had to sacrifice anything.”
In other words, Billy is echoing long-standing queerbaiting claims Harry has endured for years now. Many argue he plays coy about his sexuality — especially when it comes to his fashion sensibilities — to cater to the LGBTQ+ community. Based on his dating history, though … it seems like the dude’s strictly into the ladies. That’s certainly how it appears, anyway.
Billy gets one last dig at Vogue’s EIC … alleging that in the lead-up to Harry’s cover issue, she approached Billy and asked for his advice on advancing style pioneers in the LGBTQ+ community, and BP says he responded with this … “That bitch said to me at the end, ‘How can we do better?’ And I was so taken off guard that I didn’t say what I should have said.”
He adds, “Use your power as Vogue to uplift the voices of the leaders of this de-gendering of fashion movement.” Not long after, she went and tapped Harry … and Billy’s still fuming.