Billy Porter Offers Apology To Harry Styles For Criticising His Vogue Cover

Billy Porter is declaring a celebrity feud over before it could even really begin. Appearing on Thursday’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the Emmy-winner clarified critical comments he recently made about Harry Styles’ 2020 Vogue cover. “Apparently, I’m famous now and it was a slow news day,” Porter joked to Colbert. “The first thing I wanna say is, Harry Styles, I apologize to you for having your name in my mouth. It’s not about you. The conversation is not about you.”

As Vanity Fair writes, the conversation in question began last month, when Porter criticized Vogue for putting Styles in a dress on its cover. “I feel like the fashion industry has accepted me because they have to,” Porter, who has been embracing non-binary fashion for years, explained to UK’s Sunday Times. “I created the conversation [about non-binary fashion], and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time.”

Porter continued by reflecting on his groundbreaking look at the 2019 Oscars. “I’m not dragging Harry Styles, but 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,” he said, adding, “I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars. All [Styles] has to do is be white and straight.”

But dialogue about genderless fashion can hardly be summed up in a single statement or interview, Porter explained to Colbert. “It is about the systems of oppression and erasure of people of color who contribute to the culture,” Porter said. “Now, that’s a lot to unpack. I’m willing to unpack it sans the dragging and cancel culture of the internet because I do not now nor will I ever adjudicate my life or humanity in sound bites on social media. So, when you’re ready to have the real conversation, call a bitch.”

Porter then turned to the camera for one last knowing apology. “I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean no harm,” he promised. “I’m a gay man. We like Harry. He’s cute.”

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