In October, Billy Porter expressed his dissatisfaction with Harry Styles donning a dress on the cover of Vogue, saying, “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. I’m not dragging Harry Styles, but he is the one you’re going to try and use to represent this new conversation? He doesn’t care, he’s just doing it because it’s the thing to do.”
Now, Porter has gone ahead and walked that back some with an apology to Styles. Appearing on The Late Show last night, Porter addressed the situation and said that the conversation isn’t actually about Styles:
“Well apparently I’m famous now, and it was a slow news day, so the first thing I want to 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. […] 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. 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 b*tch, OK?! […] I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean no harm. I’m a gay man. We like Harry, he’s cute!”
Stephen Colbert then asked if Porter was surprised by how much attention the comments got and he responded, “I am surprised because there are so many other things that are important on this Earth to talk about. It’s just weird.”
Check out the full Porter interview on The Late Show above.