A conservative pundit from the Newsmax network was trolled on social media after making a femme-phobic remark targeting pop sensation Harry Styles.
Greg Kelly shared an image of the "Watermelon Sugar" singer from his performance at last weekend's Coachella Music and Arts Festival wearing a dazzling rainbow-sequined pantsuit.
An unimpressed Kelly tweeted:
“I think Harry Styles would benefit from 3 years in the Marine Corps.”
I think Harry Styles would benefit from 3 years in the Marine Corps.pic.twitter.com/hMiA3H5Fk1— Greg Kelly (@Greg Kelly) 1650245867
With his unsolicited tip, Kelly–who is a former United States Marine–must have thought Styles' enlistment in the United States military would suppress his flamboyant personal style.
The fact there are plenty of LGBTQ+ Marines who have never compromised on their personal aesthetics out of uniform must have slipped the conservative pundit's mind. The fact Styles is from the town of Redditch in Worcestershire, England also apparently missed Kelly's grasp.
While Britain does have the Royal Marines, Kelly is not equipped to speak on their behalf.
Styles doesn't identify as queer, but Kelly's disapproval of his manner of dress is unsurprising given the Newsmax hosts history of homophobic comments–including one in which he asked why movies should include LGBTQ+ characters.
The former One Direction vocalist may not have actually served in the armed forces as Kelly has, but Styles sure pulled off the look of a soldier in combat in the 2017 film Dunkirk–which depicted the Dunkirk evacuation of Allied troops during World War II from the perspective of land, sea and air.
If Kelly was looking for the stylish singer looking more butch, he needn't have looked further.
Fans trolled the former Fox News correspondent by using images of Styles from Dunkirk to jokingly inform Kelly the singer did "serve" in military style.
you don\u2019t do your research do you Greg?pic.twitter.com/VdZH9p8Gvk— rachel\ud83e\udd8b (@rachel\ud83e\udd8b) 1650311505
he\u2019s actually a war veteran greg but okpic.twitter.com/1xe0ukhoiM— #1 shadow defender (@#1 shadow defender) 1650305672
Wtf are you talking about Greg? He is literally a war hero. He got thanked for his service too. Smh show some respect? pic.twitter.com/xxn49zIcWm— Rachel \ud83d\udc23 (@Rachel \ud83d\udc23) 1650313791
Show some respect Harry is a decorated war hero from the battle of Dunkirk here\u2019s two photographs documenting his time in servicepic.twitter.com/oxHsMgR1Ov— Stacy \ud83c\udf31 (@Stacy \ud83c\udf31) 1650305838
prince harry literally thanked him for his service...pic.twitter.com/lDfa5QMtH9— zana\ud83c\udf31BOYFRIENDS LATE NIGHT TALKING (@zana\ud83c\udf31BOYFRIENDS LATE NIGHT TALKING) 1650308304
harry styles is literally a war veteran, how about some respect greg?pic.twitter.com/AQhNaDktfD— chaos\u2601\ufe0f (@chaos\u2601\ufe0f) 1650306724
Ok what happens thenpic.twitter.com/U9AAYyrwaP— The Bougie Man of Soylent Hill (@The Bougie Man of Soylent Hill) 1650247233
wow. disrespecting our troops like that???pic.twitter.com/P4Rye7Vgwe— lily\ud83d\udc07\ud83e\udea9 (@lily\ud83d\udc07\ud83e\udea9) 1650318341
He literally fought so hard in the war where are you living? He's a young war veteranpic.twitter.com/bdQnNlo2mL— Carrotsfor_Leah (@Carrotsfor_Leah) 1650310679
Kelly failed to detect the sarcasm in the replies and responded to the ridicule by criticizing the movie.
He wrote:
"ASTOUNDING-Many think since HARRY STYLES was in 'Dunkirk' he was in the Military."
"He's in a COSTUME, Not a Uniform."
"'Entertainers' were once there for our occasional Amusement, now FANATICS have made them a New Religion."
"('Dunkirk' STUNK btw. Couldn't decide what it wanted to be)"
ASTOUNDING-Many think since HARRY STYLES was in "Dunkirk" he was in the Military. He's in a COSTUME, Not a Uniform. "Entertainers" were once there for our occasional Amusement, now FANATICS have made them a New Religion. ("Dunkirk" STUNK btw. Couldn't decide what it wanted to be)https://twitter.com/kylietcheung/status/1516194179314946053\u00a0\u2026— Greg Kelly (@Greg Kelly) 1650373338
Naturally, rallying fans seized upon the opportunity for even more trolling of Kelly.
Mrs Kelly, Dunkirk is a documentary about Harry Styles and friends serving during one of the most tumultuous times of our lives. The fake news fanatics have you convinced it\u2019s actually a movie and want you to believe he\u2019s acting. But you know better than to disrespect our vets— PizzaThizzle (@PizzaThizzle) 1650374231
the fake news media fooled you into believing that it was a movie, in reality it was a documentary on his military service and the harsh conditions he had to go through as a soldier. respect lieutenant Harry Styles who fought so you could be sitting up here talking shit.— Jhen\u00e9 CLAIMS TRACK 10 & 13 (@Jhen\u00e9 CLAIMS TRACK 10 & 13) 1650377034
what are you going on about?? these are pictures of him arriving at the Woking station in Siding. why are you disrespecting his service??pic.twitter.com/YZlahaWvXc— briana luvs phh (@briana luvs phh) 1650395734
this is so disrespectful like he literally took a bullet for y/npic.twitter.com/J4IE3zM8Q5— grace\u1d34|| TRACK 6 & 7!!! (@grace\u1d34|| TRACK 6 & 7!!!) 1650391332
Gregg you need to pay much attention to your country because this guy here has been in service for a very long time.pic.twitter.com/0XSQI0xt9q— Kae \ud83c\udf39\ud83d\udde1\ufe0f (@Kae \ud83c\udf39\ud83d\udde1\ufe0f) 1650382424
pic.twitter.com/1GCdcYg3uV— lt_28 saw Louis (@lt_28 saw Louis) 1650429573
And the mockery over Kelly's fixation on Styles continued.
I think Greg Kelly would benefit from 1 night in a sequined dresshttps://twitter.com/gregkellyusa/status/1515867152091426817\u00a0\u2026— Marshall Scott (@Marshall Scott) 1650246175
pic.twitter.com/WxlXuL0e7Z— katja. \ud83c\udf4b\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 (@katja. \ud83c\udf4b\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1) 1650320407
are you jealous?pic.twitter.com/CKrliplvtH— that hungharrian girl | track 5 | 83 (@that hungharrian girl | track 5 | 83) 1650314632
This was not the first time Styles was under attack by conservatives for his gender-bending fashion.
In 2020, conservative pundit Candace Owens slammed the singer in a diatribe on Twitter about "the steady feminization of our men."
In her tweet, she posted screenshots of Styles wearing a Gucci gown from his historic Vogue photoshoot in which he became the first solo male featured on the cover of the iconic fashion magazine.
"Bring back manly men," implored Owens.
Styles subtly threw back shade by repeating her words to bring back "manly men" and posted a photo of him in a frilly shirt with a banana in his mouth.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram