On January 4th, the internet exploded when dating rumors of singer Harry Styles and actress/director Olivia Wilde emerged along with pictures of the two. The first picture to surface was one published by Daily Mail around noon EST, claiming that the two were arriving at Styles’ LA home. Rebecca Davidson, the author of the Daily Mail article, referred to the movie that Styles and Wilde are working on together with Harry acting as the lead and Olivia directing: “Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde are thought to be dating after ‘growing close’ on the set of their new movie, Don’t Worry Darling.” About an hour later, more pictures of the two holding hands at Harry’s manager, Jeff Azoff’s wedding in Montecito, California were released. While many took these pictures as a means to confirm their relationship, Harry’s loyal fans seem to think otherwise.

Fans of Harry have been known to notice even the most miniscule details of the star’s life , and they certainly lived up to that expectation with these rumors. Fans by the title as “harries” realized that the dates of the pictures and wedding do not match up. In an article published by thefocus.news November 25, 2020, it was stated that “Jeff is married to Glenne Christiaansen”. However, the paparazzi pictures were released just two days ago and said to be taken the day before. Harries also caught on to the fact that an article from Just Jared titled “Harry Styles & Olivia Wilde Hold Hands at His Manager’s Wedding” was published four hours before the photos were released. Many fans believe that the wedding and paparazzi were a set up, but why?

There are many reasons flying around for this possible PR stunt but first it is important to examine what makes it seem like a stunt. Along with the date and timing mixups, the paparazzi also seemed to give it away. It does not make much sense why paparazzi would be at a manager with little to no fame’s wedding; they were clearly only there for Harry and Olivia, but how would they know that they would be there holding hands? Many think that the paparazzi were set up. Firstly, paparazzi are not allowed on private property. Following that, the photos are being copyrighted which means that they were taken by a private photographer on private property. Furthermore, the photographers had to get permission to publish the photos. It may seem as though this is enough to prove the relationship is fake, but the fans kept digging.

One fan noticed the name of the hotel the wedding took place at on the robe Styles rocked in the photos. They then proceeded to call the hotel and share with twitter that they said they haven’t held any events since the mandate started which was the first week of December in 2020. Once again dates aren’t matching up and the whole thing seems very premeditated. These fan’s determination to uncover the truth continued today as more pictures and articles were released about the couple. Daily Mail released photos of Olivia driving a black range rover and claimed that she was running errands in Harry’s car. Fans were quick to point out that many celebrities own range rovers. They also picked up on a small detail about photos released of Harry on a hike today in LA– he was holding his keys. So how was Wilde driving his car at the same time Styles was on a hike with his keys…? And how would the paparazzi have known the singer was on a hike in what looked like a private, random location…?

Harries are also criticizing the media’s quick judgement to claim Olivia is a romantic partner of Harry when they haven’t done so with other people Styles has held hands with publicly. “Lizzo” began to trend on twitter as fans called out the media for only assuming relationships with Harry if the woman met the societal standard of what beauty is. Twitter users pointed out that Lizzo and Harry have held hands multiple times, made many sexual jokes, and gotten very cuddly on multiple occasions but because of her appearance others assumed they were only friends. Harry has also been seen holding hands with James Corden (who he also kissed on television more than once!), former bandmate Niall Horan, and Stevie Nicks and it was not assumed that this 100% confirmed a relationship. Many believe that this is due to the bias in the media toward conventional beauty standards to fuel Styles’ heteronormative “womanizer” image that has been pushed on him since the innocent age of 16 when he emerged into the world’s spotlight. 

So back to the question: why would they set this up? Well, the dating rumor can bring attention to the new movie that the pair are both involved in as well as Styles’ nominations in the upcoming Grammys. This is not the first time Styles has been involved in a PR stunt right before an event in his career. Many believe that Harry’s relationship with Taylor Swift in 2012-2013 was set up for publicity purposes. The first time the public noticed that they were dating was in November of 2012, the same month that One Direction, Harry’s former band, released their second album, Take Me Home. Taylor Swift released her album, Red, the month before then. The couple broke up in January of 2013 the same year that Harry was on tour with his band and released their third album, Midnight Memories; Taylor was also touring for Red that year. It is very common for celebrities to be set up in fake relationships to draw the eyes of the public, especially right before an event that they want to receive attention.

It is also important to note how quickly so much content was released. Within 24 hours multiple pictures were released, talk of the gossip on radio stations, television, hundreds of articles, and even rumors that they have moved in together and he has met her children. It is not uncommon for the teams of celebrities to feed the media what they want them to publish. 

So before being swayed by the dubious words of those who are paid to stir up drama, consider the possibility that this relationship is merely a stunt. After all, only a few short weeks ago did an article come out titled “Harry Styles Is in ‘No Hurry’ to Date Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic”.