We’ve known that Harry Styles is a die-hard Lizzo stan ever since he stepped into the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge late last year. “I just think she’s amazing,” he told the radio show’s presenter Clara Amfo. “She’s one of the most exciting artists working now, for sure.”
Catching up later on Twitter, Lizzo expressed her admiration for the One Direction grad too, professing her love with a pair of syrupy sweet emojis. It was a match made in heaven.
Well, after what felt like an entirety (read: approximately four weeks), the American and British pop icons have finally crossed paths. Last night at her Super Bowl pre-show in Miami with Sirius XM, Lizzo brought king Harry out on stage to perform a rambunctious rendition of her hit “Juice”.
Midway through the track, the “Cuz I Love You” singer turned to Harry and spanked him, thus exercising the fantasies of a million Styles stans. They took turns; Harry taking some of the lines solo before they belt out the chorus in tandem.
Harry is in town for the weekend to perform at his own Superbowl pre-party with Pepsi, but his fans are slightly peeved that the usually politically in-tune, philanthropic star is going ahead with it. Many have asked him to stand in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, the American football star who kneeled during the National Anthem as a statement against the prevalence of police brutality, and who hasn’t played a game since 2016 (the victim of unofficial blacklisting by NFL owners, it has been alleged).
Fans of Harry have started a social media campaign, #HarryBackDown, asking him to either pull himself from the event’s line-up or donate his earnings to a charity. It’s a reminder that, instead of pop fanbases heaping overwhelming, unquestioning praise on their idols, they have the potential and desire to hold them to account, and make them better people. Harry and his team are yet to comment on the campaign.