Why are people body-shaming Harry Styles on TikTok?

This is your daily reminder that body shaming is not limited to any type of gender, sexual orientation or financial status.

Harry Styles – one of the biggest stars in the world right now – is all over TikTok because users are convinced that he is.. wait for it… bald.

Videos and pictures of the singer have been posted backing up these claims, including interview footage of him claiming he’ll be the first person to go bald, as well as ambiguous footage of his hair “lifting” as he adjusts his microphone and ear piece on stage, causing many to argue that a wig lifts while he does this.

Fans have then gone back over their own pictures of Styles in concert, zooming in to try and find evidence of this internet conspiracy theory.

These flames were fanned by none other than Deux Moi, the anonymous, Gossip Girl-style Instagram account that posts regular gossip rumours from the world of Hollywood. The account posted that a star with a huge female following was actually bald and wore a toupé. 

The post reads: “This A list musician / occasional actor has a dirty little secret he hasn’t shared with fans. Literally! He has gone almost completely bald. His hairpiece is so lifelike that only a good eye could pick it out, and that’s on a bad day. However! He doesn’t take it off.”

TikTokker Abigail Henry pointed out that his could be true, seeing as Styles has pointed out in the past that he has found it really easy to make himself unrecognisable in public. Henry even captioned her video “JUSTICE FOR BALDARRY”, but others have piled into the comments with less supportive comments about Styles’ potential baldness.

One posted: “i hope we’re getting robbed bc the thought alone of a bald harry is scaring me ????”, while another said: “it’s getting to real and i’m scared”. 

There are lots of very real alternative possibilities here, one being that Harry wears extensions or some kind of hair piece to add volume, just like countless female celebrities are known to do. But what is most concerning is certain reactions to baldness – why is it scary?

Aside from the fact that it’s nobody’s business, this attitude towards baldness is damaging to anyone is, actually, bald. Not to mention people who may have lost their hair for an array of other reasons. Why is the “perfect body” centred around someone having hair in certain places, and not others?

Two-thirds of all men will eventually be affected by male pattern baldness, while 15 in every 10,000 people in the UK have alopecia areata and face losing their hair. 

When rumours like this circulate, those who may also be dealing with hair loss may be made to feel uncomfortable – all because comments are being made about an obsession with a celebrity whose hair we most likely will never know the truth about. Time for some compassion, we think.

We don’t know if Harry Styles is bald, we might never know. But we do know that body shaming does not stop with inappropriate comments at bikini pictures and cellulite obsessions. 

Do better, guys.