Harry Styles hits back at ‘queerbaiting’ claims again with kiss on SNL
Harry Styles hit back at queerbaiting allegations (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images/NBC)
Harry Styles poked fun at criticism levelled at him for ‘queerbaiting’ during his appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL), including sharing a same-sex smooch with comedian Ben Marshall.
The former One Direction member, whose fourth solo album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally released earlier this month, hosted the flagship sketch comedy show on Saturday (14 March).
During his opening monologue, Styles addressed his break from music and joked about “creating albums and making songs about fruit that people think are about sex”, adding: “I just really like fruit, guys. I like sex too.”
But he also addressed accusations of queerbaiting which have been lodged at him over the years, where he has been accused of appropriating a queer aesthetic – such as wearing dresses and skirts – to capitalise on the .
Queerbaiting, which was added to dictionary.com in 2023, is a term that was originally used to describe works of entertainment, like books, films or TV shows, that hint at LGBTQ+ identities or relationships between characters without ever making the characters canonically queer. It is seen as a way to gain the support of LGBTQ+ audiences without estranging anti-LGBTQ+ bigots, or in other words baiting its queer audience.
However, in recent years the term has less-so been applied to works of fiction than to real life celebrities, who have been accused of queerbaiting fans if they do not want to discuss their sexualities publicly. Styles is one example, with Heartstopper’s Kit Connor and Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams other notable examples.
Referencing previous comments made about his fashion choices, the “As It Was” singer said: “Back then, people seemed to pay a lot of attention to the clothes I was wearing, something called queerbaiting.
“And some people accused me of it but did it ever occur to you that… maybe you don’t know everything about me, dad?”
Styles has previous denied queerbaiting fans.
Back in 2019, amid the release of his second album Fine Line, he told The Guardian: “Am I sprinkling in nuggets of sexual ambiguity to try and be more interesting? No.
“In terms of how I wanna dress, and what the album sleeve’s gonna be, I tend to make decisions in terms of collaborators I want to work with.
“I want things to look a certain way. Not because it makes me look gay, or it makes me look straight, or it makes me look bisexual, but because I think it looks cool.”
Following this, in 2022, the singer told Better Homes & Gardens that the expectation to label himself was “outdated”, adding: “I’ve been really open with it with my friends, but that’s my personal experience; it’s mine.
“The whole point of where we should be heading, which is toward accepting everybody and being more open, is that it doesn’t matter, and it’s about not having to label everything, not having to clarify what boxes you’re checking.”
During his SNL monologue, Styles went on to say “sometimes kissing can be great, you know, if you’re really good at it, and you’re a good person, or if you have a tight little bum”.
That led SNL cast member Ben Marshall to appear on stage and as the two shared a kiss, Styles turned to the camera and stated: “Now that’s queerbaiting!”
