Billy Porter slams Vogue over Harry Styles cover: 'This is politics for me'
The 'Cinderella' star said that Styles wore a dress 'because it’s the thing to do'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Billy Porter is not among the fans of Harry Styles' Vogue cover.
In Dec. 2020, Styles became the fashion publication's first male cover model and made waves for wearing a dress in his shoot.
The cover drew both praise and criticism, and now, Porter has joined those expressing irritation with the spread.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I changed the whole game," Porter, 52, who is known for wearing dresses on the red carpet and even in movies, told The Sunday Times recently. "And that is not ego, that is just fact. I was the first one doing it and now everybody is doing it."
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Billy Porter, who is known for wearing dresses to public events such as the 2019 Academy Awards, slammed Vogue magazine for choosing to put Harry Styles in a dress for his cover shoot last year. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
The actor himself has made headlines for donning gowns while attending the Oscars, the Met Gala and in Amazon Prime's "Cinderella."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Porter said that he feels the fashion industry accepted him "because they have to."
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"I’m not necessarily convinced, and here is why: I created the conversation, and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Emmy winner insisted that he was not "dragging" Styles, but was instead upset with Vogue, question whether the 27-year-old singer "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. This is politics for me. This is my life," Porter insisted. "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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reps for Vogue and Styles did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
Earlier this year, Porter revealed that he was diagnosed with HIV in 2007.
Billy Porter wore a dress for his role in ‘Cinderella.’ (Kerry Brown / 2021 Amazon Content Services LLC)
He told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2021 that he used his "Pose" character Pray Tell, who is also HIV-positive, to express himself.
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"I was able to say everything that I wanted to say through a surrogate," he said, adding that the show's cast and crew were unaware that he was drawing from his own life.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Porter would go on to win an Emmy for his work on "Pose" and has been nominated for two more.