Model From Harry Styles' New Video Calls Him The 'Consent King'
Just add this to the ever-growing list of reasons to love Harry Styles
As if we needed another reason to stan Harry Styles. From his out-of-this world talent, to how sweet he is to his fans, to his outspoken activism for acceptance of all people, no matter who they are and how they identify — the list just keeps on growing. Well, now there’s another thing to add to it.
Styles just dropped the much-anticipated video for “Watermelon Sugar,” and it’s everything we hoped it would be. It’s peak summer, with fun in the sun, a sandy beach, huge groups of friends like we can only dream about right now in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
And it’s also a ton of gorgeous models smushing watermelon into sweet Harry’s face. Naturally.
If you haven’t seen it yet, kindly pause reading for a moment and enjoy.
OK, now that we’re all on the same page about that video being incredible, let’s move on to the matter at hand. Ephrata, one of the models who took part in all that watermelon smushing, posted an Instagram live soon after the video dropped, talking about her experience being on set and filming a music video with the Harry Styles.
When it came to working with Styles himself, Ephrata called him a “consent king,” then explained what she meant by that: That he was extremely careful to check in with all the models to make sure they were OK with whatever kind of touching the video director was asking them to do.
“The people were telling him to touch my hair and play with it and he was like, ‘Wait, wait, wait, pause — can I even touch your hair? Is that even okay?” she explained. “And I was like ‘Yeah, that’s so nice. That was really sweet.'”
Aalany McMahan, another model from the shoot who appeared in the live video along with Ephrata, confirmed this.
“He [Styles] was huge on the consent,” McMahan said.
Later in the video, when Ephrata was asked to kiss Styles, she said his caring behavior made her want to return the favor.
“I felt like I had to ask, too. I was like ‘Are you sure?’ and he was like ‘Yes, go ahead!'” she said.
Ephrata said the emphasis on consent throughout filming made the day feel easy, fun, and comfortable, and nothing felt forced. That’s probably the way all video shoots should be, but we know how the openly secret culture of abuse in Hollywood has been allowed and perpetuated.
All the more reason to stan Harry Styles, and to keep streaming “Watermelon Sugar” on repeat (as if we weren’t already).
