Harry Styles is having a good Brit Awards. Having already won ‘Best Pop/R&B’ Act’, he then scooped up ‘Best Artist of the Year’ – a category laden with controversy after announcing an all-male shortlist following the decision to introduce gender-neutral awards.
Styles is no stranger to controversy, though. He faced criticism for his Album of the Year Grammys speech earlier this month, having said, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often.” While some fans thought this comment was wildly out of touch – given that he’s a cisgender white man – while others pointed out that he was probably referring to his (still relatively privileged) upbringing in Manchester.
The As It Was singer was clearly aware of both controversies, as he finished his speech by saying he is “aware of his privilege” before dedicating his award to some of the women pop stars – including Charli XCX, Rina Sawayama, and Becky Hill – who weren’t nominated in the gender-neutral category: “This award is for Rina, Charlie, Mabel, Florence, and Becky.”
His speech garnered him plenty of praise on Twitter, but most people seemed to be more interested in the fact that he called out his One Direction former bandmates. In his speech, he said, “I want to thank Niall, Louis, Liam, and Zayn because I wouldn’t be here without you either. Thank you so much.”
One person tweeted, “The scream I let out when Harry Styles just mentioned Niall Louis Liam and Zayn in his speech…. my soul quite literally left my body i am TOO OLD to be acting like this about one direction,” while another added, “Harry styles thanking one direction in 2023 is very healing for my inner directioner.”
Less than an hour later, Styles won the Best Single of the Year award for As It Was. In a room where women were barely represented on shortlists, it felt like Harry Styles just couldn’t lose.
While acknowledging his privilege and highlighting snubbed women musicians – all of whom were eligible for Artist of the Year – was clearly the right thing for Styles to do, there was surely room for something a little more radical.
Is acknowledging your privilege enough when you still revel in the rewards it grants you? I guess we’ll have to wait for Styles’ next acceptance speech to find out.
For more from Glamour UK’s Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
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