Billy Porter Clarified That He Doesn’t Have Beef With Harry Styles, But He’s Still Frustrated With Industry Gatekeepers

For years, Billy Porter has built his platform on being unapologetically himself. This entails him using his platform to speak openly about his sexuality and express himself through his fashion.

With that said, he notoriously spoke out about Vogue‘s November 2020, on which Harry Styles made an appearance as the first solo man to cover the magazine, wearing a dress. Porter infamously took issue with the cover, and explained that he felt that he didn’t get his flowers for wearing a tuxedo-gown at the 2019 Academy Awards, while Styles—who is white and straight—was praised for his gender-bending fashions.

In an interview with Telegraph, Porter clarified that he didn’t take issue with Styles himself, but rather, the higher-ups within the industry.

“It’s not Harry Styles’s fault that he happens to be white and cute and straight and fit into the infrastructure that way … I call out the gatekeepers,” said Porter.

Elsewhere in the interview, Porter acknowledged that he wasn’t the first to defy gender norms in fashion, but continued to acknowledge that Styles is “white and he’s straight. 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.”

It doesn’t seem that Porter is letting this one go anytime soon—nor should he. But he did reveal that he sent Styles flowers after initially voicing his disdain toward the Vogue cover back in 2021.

This summer, Porter has been dipping his toes within the pop realm with a trio of new dance-ready singles, including “Baby Was A Dancer,” “Fashion,” and “Broke A Sweat.”