Billy Porter is not too happy that Harry Styles snagged a cover of Vogue in 2020.
During a conversation with The Telegraph, Porter elaborated on his perception that Styles secured the inaugural male cover due to him being white and heterosexual.
“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,” he said.
Porter also called out Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief, for seeking his advice but ultimately choosing Styles to cover the magazine.
“That b*tch 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 added.
Additionally, Porter shared that he had told Wintour to “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 has previously expressed his disapproval of Styles’ Vogue cover, clarifying that his rebuttals were not aimed at the artist on a personal level.
“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,” he 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 down. All he has to do is be white and straight.”
