Billy Porter Calls Out Anna Wintour Over Harry Styles' Vogue Cover

This isn't the first time that Porter has spoken out about his thoughts on Vogue's decision, with the actor previously saying he felt it was as an example of erasure when it comes to people of color.

"I feel like the fashion industry has accepted me because they have to," he told The Sunday Times in October 2021. "I'm not necessarily convinced and here is why: I created the conversation [about non-binary fashion] and yet Vogue still put Harry Styles, a straight white man, in a dress on their cover for the first time."

Noting that the 29-year-old himself wasn't the issue, Porter added, "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. This is politics for me. This is my life."

The following month, the Tony winner clarified his stance, explaining that his perspective is "not about" Styles. "The conversation is actually deeper than that," he said during a November 2021 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. "It is about the systems of oppression and erasure of people of color who contribute to the culture. Now, that's a lot to unpack. I'm willing to unpack it, sans the dragging and cancel culture of the Internet, because I do not now, nor will ever, adjudicate my life or humanity in sound bites on social media."

He concluded, "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean no harm. I'm a gay man. We like Harry, he's cute!"