Harry Styles returned to SNL after nearly seven years. During his appearance on the March 15 episode, he addressed the long-running “queerbaiting” claims. Styles, who was also the musical guest, ended his monologue with a light jab at those claims by kissing SNL star Ben Marshall.
Harry Styles shares a kiss with SNL star Ben Marshall amid queerbaiting claims
Harry Styles first rose to fame as a member of the now-defunct British boy band, One Direction. Since he embarked on his solo career, many have often accused him of queerbaiting. In his recent SNL monologue, the “As It Was” hitmaker addressed those claims with a playful touch.
He began by reflecting on the last time he hosted the sketch comedy series in 2019. “Back then, people seemed to pay a lot of attention to the clothes I was wearing and some people accused me of something called ‘queerbaiting.’ But did it ever occur to you that … maybe you don’t know everything about me, Dad?” he said, before joking, “I ran it past him. He was fine with it.”
Styles then continued to talk about what he had been up to in the years since he last appeared on the show. On his personal journey, he joked that he discovered he was “tremendously boring.” He revealed that he took up “jogging” and “found a new home in a small, old Italian village” while working on new music.
Further, he joked about using ChatGPT to name his album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. Then he said, “And I loved it because what’s better than kissing all the time?” as Chloe Fineman appeared behind him, expecting a kiss. “Which I don’t actually do — I don’t want to kiss all the time,” he continued. Fineman walked off the stage in disappointment.
“Sometimes, kissing can be great, if you’re really good at it, and you’re a good person,” Styles said. Sarah Sherman showed up on the stage before storming away. As he said, “Or if you have a tight little bum,” Ben Marshall appeared. The British singer asked Marshall, “Hi Ben. What are you doing up here?”
The SNL star replied, “Well, you said tight little bum … so where’s my kiss?” Styles said, “…Whatever, come here,” and then pulled Marshall in for a kiss on the lips. Turning to the camera, Styles winked and said, “Now that’s queerbaiting.”
