Billy Porter slams Harry Styles’ Vogue cover again, calls Anna Wintour a ‘bitch’
Billy Porter criticized Harry Styles’ Vogue cover once again, despite previously apologizing for his initial comments. He even went as far as calling Anna Wintour a derogatory term. In an interview with the Telegraph, Porter expressed his dislike for Vogue’s choice to use Styles as the face of genderfluid and non-binary fashion. Porter acknowledged that it’s not Styles’ fault for fitting into the industry’s standards, but he called out the gatekeepers who made that decision. He argued that Styles got the cover because he is white and straight, dismissing the notion of him being non-binary. Porter felt that Styles was using his community to elevate himself without having to make any sacrifices.
Porter also revealed that he had spoken to Anna Wintour about pushing forward the “de-gendering of fashion movement” before Styles was given the cover. However, Wintour went ahead and chose Styles as the first man to cover American Vogue by himself. Porter expressed his disappointment, stating that he should have told Wintour to use her power at Vogue to uplift the voices of the leaders in the de-gendering of fashion movement.
Styles received backlash for his Vogue cover, where he wore a dress. Porter previously criticized the cover, claiming he had changed the game and started the conversation about men wearing dresses in fashion. He felt that Vogue accepting him was a result of necessity, whereas Styles, a straight white man, was simply following the trend. Porter clarified that his issue was with Vogue, not Styles personally. He viewed it as a political matter, as he had to fight for acceptance in his own life, while Styles only had to be white and straight.
Porter later apologized to Styles, emphasizing that the conversation was not about him individually but about the larger systems of oppression and erasure faced by people of color in the culture.
Billy Porter slammed Harry Styles’ Vogue cover again — after previously apologizing for his initial comments — and called Anna Wintour a “bitch.”
During an interview with the Telegraph published Friday, the “Pose” alum, 53, spoke about his disdain for Vogue using the “Watermelon Sugar” singer as the face of genderfluid and non-binary fashion back in 2020.
“It’s not Harry Styles’ fault that he happens to be white and cute and straight and fit into the infrastructure that way,” Porter, who is openly gay, said. “I call out the gatekeepers.”
The “Cinderella” star claimed that the Grammy winner, who has yet to publicly label himself or his sexuality, got the cover because he’s “white and he’s straight.”
“Non-binary blah blah blah blah. No,” Porter continued. “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.”
As for Wintour, 73, Porter said that he spoke to the magazine editor-in-chief about how to use Vogue to push forward the “de-gendering of fashion movement” before Styles, 29, was given the cover.
However, Wintour tapped the “Late Night Talking” musician, making him the first man to ever cover American Vogue by himself.
“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,” Porter told the UK publication, which was, “Use your power as Vogue to uplift the voices of the leaders of this de-gendering of fashion movement.”
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“Six months later, Harry Styles is the first man on the cover.”
TheFantasyTimes has reached out to Styles and Wintour’s reps but did not immediately hear back.
Porter previously slammed Styles’ historic cover, in which the former One Direction member was dressed in a Gucci gown.
“I changed the whole game,” he told the Sunday Times in October 2021. “And that is not ego, that is just fact. I was the first one doing it and now everybody is doing it.
“I feel like the fashion industry has accepted me because they have to. I’m not necessarily convinced, and here is why: I created the conversation, and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time.”
The Emmy winner then claimed that he was attacking Vogue and not Styles personally.
“I’m not dragging Harry Styles, but he is the one you’re going to try and use to represent this new conversation?” he asked rhetorically.
“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 place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars and not be gunned down. All he has to do is be white and straight.”
The following month, the “Kinky Boots” star issued an apology for his remarks, reiterating that he had no hard feelings against Styles.
“Harry Styles, I apologize to you for having your name in my mouth,” he said on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” at the time.
“It’s not about you. The conversation is not about you. The conversation is actually deeper than that. It is about the systems of oppression and erasure of people of color who contribute to the culture.”
