Billy Porter Slams Harry Styles Vogue Cover

Billy Porter spoke out about the selection of Harry Styles as the first man to grace the cover of American Vogue.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Porter recalled how he and Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour had participated in discussions in the months leading up to Styles' December 2020 cover.

"(She) 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 said. "Use your power as Vogue to uplift the voices of the leaders of this de-gendering of fashion movement. … Six months later, Harry Styles is the first man on the cover."

Porter mentioned that he did not hold Styles accountable, but Porter had concerns about "the gate-keepers" within the fashion sector who have permitted this oversight in LGBTQ representation.

"It's not Harry Styles' fault that he happens to be white and cute and straight and fit into the infrastructure that way," Porter said. "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."

In a 2021 interview with The Sunday Times, Porter expressed mixed feelings about Styles' Vogue cover. Porter acknowledged that Styles had "changed the whole game" for gender-nonconforming looks in celebrity men's fashion, but also said that he remained conflicted about his relationship with the broader fashion industry.

"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 (about nonbinary fashion) and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time," Porter said at the time, according to USA Today.

"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," Porter said. "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 now. All he has to do is be white and straight."

Porter later apologized to Styles during an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

"Harry Styles, I apologize to you for having your name in my mouth. It's not about you," Porter said. "The conversation is not about you."