Harry Styles Talks Sexuality And Queerbaiting
August 24, 2022Harry Styles, the pop star, opens up about his personal life, accusations of queerbaiting, his sexuality, and relationship with Olivia Wilde in a new interview with Rolling Stone.
Since his appearance on X-Factor, much has changed for Styles. The talent show catapulted him to international stardom with the formation of One Direction and then moving to his solo career in 2017.
Styles, now touring for his third solo album Harry's House, spoke about the scrutiny into his private life, saying in his cover story interview with Rolling Stone: “I’ve never talked about my life away from work publicly and found that it’s benefited me positively.”
“There’s always going to be a version of a narrative, and I think I just decided I wasn’t going to spend the time trying to correct it or redirect it in some way,” he explained.
Styles is known for his genderfluid fashion, following in the footsteps of icons such as David Bowie and Mick Jagger. This has fielded harsh criticism of queerbaiting – when one benefits from appearing as queer without claiming the community explicitly, as NBC News write.
“Sometimes people say, ‘You’ve only publicly been with women,’ and I don’t think I’ve publicly been with anyone. If someone takes a picture of you with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re choosing to have a public relationship or something,” he said.
He's previously called the need to define one's sexuality “outdated,” in an April interview. “It doesn’t matter, and it’s about not having to label everything, not having to clarify what boxes you’re checking,” he said.
Olivia Wilde is the director of his upcoming film, Don't Worry Darling, expected in September. She's been seen at several of his shows, and the two have been snapped hand in hand by paparazzi.
The 28-year-old singer acknowledged the internet can be a toxic place that attacks people in his close circle, calling Twitter “a s---storm of people trying to be awful to people […] That obviously doesn’t make me feel good,” he said to Rolling Stone.
“It’s obviously a difficult feeling to feel like being close to me means you’re at the ransom of a corner of Twitter or something,” he explained. “I just wanted to sing. I didn’t want to get into it if I was going to hurt people like that.”
As well as Don't Worry Darling, Styles will also star in the film My Policeman, in which he plays an officer in 1950s Britain hiding his sexuality. The film will be released in November.
“It’s obviously pretty unfathomable now to think, ‘Oh, you couldn’t be gay. That was illegal,’” Styles said on the role.
“I think everyone, including myself, has your own journey with figuring out sexuality and getting more comfortable with it,” he continued. “It’s not like ‘This is a gay story about these guys being gay.’ It’s about love and about wasted time to me.”
Read related myGwork articles here:
Harry Styles Helps Fan Come Out During London Show
Harry Styles Says Labelling His Sexuality Is An “Outdated” Concept
Harry Styles Suddenly Stopped Concert To Help A Fan Come Out To Her Mom
Keep up to date with the latest myGnews