It’s a happy coincidence that these new shots of Harry Styles have been released because I just listened to Jorja Smith’s cover of “As It Was” and I need to share it because it’s SO f-cking good. Her voice is so rich and sultry but on this song she’s turned it into sadness and yearning, all the little breaks in her voice like little pin pricks on your heart.
I hope he sent her a note of appreciation because she did it a lot of justice.
As for Harry, he was papped on his coffee run in London and bumped into a friend, Angelica Jopling. Harry has been back to life in London after wrapping up his Love on Tour back in July, conveniently just as his girlfriend Taylor Russell was in town for a few months as she works on her play The Effect, for which she is getting outstanding reviews in her stage debut.
Outstanding, that is, from people who aren’t Harry delulus. I linked to Kayleigh Donaldson’s piece at Pajiba - how Harry’s fans are doing to Taylor what they did to Olivia Wilde. With Olivia they rationalised it because of the age difference and the whole situation with Jason Sudeikis as “reasons” for why Olivia wasn’t good enough for him.
There’s no age difference with Taylor and there was no complication of a previous relationship… so what’s the excuse this time?
There is, of course, no acceptable excuse for the vile behaviour of these fans but it is a reminder that we live in these weird parasocial times. Fans have always, through all generations, been invested in their faves. But in the past, celebrities were much more distanced from that investment. And now? That investment is right in their faces, it’s often in the middle of their personal relationships, closer than it’s ever been before.
