Take a Look at the Top Five Controversies Harry Styles Has Been Involved in Through the Years

Here Are the Top Five Most Talked About Moments of Harry Styles' Career

Harry Styles is renowned for his larger-than-life personality and his mesmerizing character. The Sign Of The Times singer is one of the most gifted artists in the entertainment industry. From his debut on the discontinued show X Factor to later becoming a part of the legendary boy band One Direction, there's no denying that Styles is now a household name. While the singer has been primarily focused on building a music career, he decided to expand his horizons into acting, and so he debuted as a hot-headed soldier trying to survive the war with his fellow men in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. His role in the movie paved the way for other acting opportunities shortly after. 

All of this is to say that due to Styles' roaring success, he is often in the limelight with his vibrant and extravagant lifestyle. While some think that any press can be 'good' press, for the singer and actor, it hasn’t always been the case. From facing heat for his relationship with Olivia Wilde to speculations of being in a relationship with Louis Tomlinson, Styles has surprisingly been involved in several controversies in the past. Let's take a look at some of them now. 

1. Dating Olivia Wilde

Styles has been known for being quite the heartthrob, given his alluring looks and lively persona. From Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner, Nicole Scherzinger, Erin Foster, Emily Ratajkowski, and many more, he has dated several high-profile women in the past but didn’t receive as much criticism for any of them as he did for dating actress Olivia Wilde. The former lovers first met on the set of Don’t Worry Darling, after which they dated each other for two years.

While they were together, they both received heavy backlash for the 10-year age gap between them. Fans would often hurl some pretty unsavory words at them for their romantic relationship, but they never let that become the reason for their breakup. In fact, it's worth noting that regardless of the negativity he’d regularly receive, the Watermelon Sugar singer would seldom react to it. 

2. His 2020 Vogue Cover

The Grammy-winning singer has been known to challenge the norms and embrace more gender-fluid clothing. His outfits have a lot of panache and flair on any red carpet, and his aesthetic has certainly transitioned from when he initially entered the music industry. From sporting classic tuxedos and chic formal shirts and ties to bougie ensembles with bedazzled aesthetics and feminine clothing, he’s morphed into quite a fashionista with exquisite taste.

Although his outfits regularly get high praise, the attire worn for Vogue’s December edition Cover magazine in 2020 received the opposite of compliments. In the cover, Styles brought the different spectrums of color to life. From multi-colored dresses to pleated skirts, he wore it all. While numerous fans found the gesture and statement meaningful and encouraging, others on the platform were far from happy about it. Users of X, formerly known as Twitter, complained that “masculinity was over and to bring back the manly man.”

3. The 'Gay Sex' Comment

The Satellite singer hasn’t stopped receiving offers for a variety of films since his stellar performance in Don’t Worry Darling, which went on to win an Oscar. Another note-worthy film of his is The Policeman. Styles' character is a married man who is secretly in love with a museum curator. The film’s timeline was set back to when homosexuality was deemed illegal and a global taboo.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, he explained how his film portrays gay sex scenes differently while also elaborating on what makes it dissimilar to other films of a similar genre. His comment, "So much of gay s** in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it," is what caused him to receive backlash in the first place. Several people on X thought that his comments were 'tone deaf' and disagreed with what the singer noted in his interview. 

4. Rumors of a Relationship with Louis Tomlinson

The Golden singer was quite close to all four of his bandmates from One Direction, whose other members were Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson. They have each shared a pretty deep bond of friendship and respect since the early days. While friendships between each of them were on different spectrums, Styles’ friendship with Tomlinson was most noted. 

Their ‘closeness’ eventually led fans to speculate on a possible romantic relationship between the two. Although the two have made it crystal clear that they were just good friends and nothing more, rumors of it never seemed to stop. The fandom even gave them a cheesy ship name: ‘Larry’. In 2015, Malik reportedly commented on the impact of the rumors on the two. He claimed that the rumors about them 'added strain' to their friendship.

5. When He Was Accused of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is quite a serious offense and issue for numerous songwriters and musical talents in the world. Such accusations have arisen in the past against several renowned singers around the world, including Taylor Swift. Styles is now among those accused of it because of his debut album, Harry Styles. 

As per the claims made against him, the singer reportedly used a similar guitar riff from The Beatles legendary song Blackbird. This wasn’t the only song that was seemingly lifted from another piece of music. As per sources, even his Grammy-winning album As It Was has an identical tune to that of El Profe, a song performed by the well-known Argentinian band Miranda.