Singer Harry Styles was sexually assaulted Saturday night during a performance in Los Angeles.
The former One Direction star was belting out “Kiwi” at the We Can Survive benefit concert at the Hollywood Bowl when he got down on his knees at the edge of the stage. Fan-shot video shows Styles brushing away the hand of one fan who touched his crotch before standing up and backing away.
Several celebrity websites chose to downplay the incident. Hollywood Life, run by Canadian Bonnie Fuller, published the headline: “Harry Styles’ Crotch Gets Grabbed By Overzealous Fan During Epic Performance.” UK publication The Sun called it “an awkward encounter.”
TMZ described Styles a “true professional” for acting “like nothing happened” when “someone reached up from the front row and copped a feel of his goods.”
Most people, though, recognized the crotch-grab for what it was.
“It’s not okay to grope men either,” tweeted Savannah Seymour. “Its [sic] not different and y’all are disgusting if you think men can’t be victims of sexual assault too.”
Another tweet read: “This is just horrible … remember that this is sexual assault.”
Within hours, the hashtag “#RespectHarry” was trending.
WTF!!! When your favorite artist is close to you, this does not justify you touching him in this way. #RespectHarry pic.twitter.com/0PdUGR6nN2
— ً (@___VXXIIS) October 22, 2017