Harry Styles joked about the criticism he received over alleged “queerbaiting” during his opening monologue on Saturday Night Live last night (14 March).
“Queerbaiting” is a term that originally applied to fiction, and describes books, films or TV shows that hint at same-sex relationships between characters, without ever making the characters explicitly queer. It is often seen as a cynical attempt to curry favour with LGBT+ audiences without alienating homophobic fans.
The term has also increasingly been used in the context of real-life celebrities, including Styles – with some claiming that he has profited from the aesthetics of queer culture and the suggestion of sexual fluidity, without labelling his sexuality publicly.
Styles featured on this week’s episode of SNL as the host, and joked about “queerbaiting” during the opening monologue.
Referring to his previous hosting stints on SNL, Styles, wearing a suit, 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?”
Later in the monologue, Styles kisses series regular Ben Marshall, before remarking to the crowd: “Now that’s queerbaiting!”
Styles, whose latest solo album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. was released earlier this month, previously addressed the subject in an interview with The Guardian.
Asked about the subject in 2019, he said: “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.”
Saturday Night Live can be watched in the UK on Sky Comedy and NOW.
In a four-star review of Styles’ new album for The Independent, Roisin O’Connor wrote: “It’s almost a relief to have Styles back, given how women in pop have been doing so much of the work in recent years.
“And really, he has no true male peer (artists such as Bad Bunny, Sam Fender and The Weeknd excel in their own lanes), as much as newcomers such as Benson Boone might try. No one can match his level of pizzazz.”
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