It hasn’t been a great week for the internet’s boyfriend.

Just when it seemed like Harry Styles could do no wrong, the singer-come-actor (and certified hearthrob) has attracted the anger of social media users after an interview for his upcoming film, My Policeman. The film, which is set in Britain in the 1950s, sees Styles playing a married police officer who has an affair with a man (in a time when being gay was still very much illegal in the UK).

Speaking about the film, Styles described: “So much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it.”

“There will be, I would imagine, some people who watch [My Policeman] who were very much alive during this time when it was illegal to be gay, and [director Michael Grandage] wanted to show that it’s tender and loving and sensitive.”

harry styles is sooo fucking annoying about queer topics for someone who is a white straight male

— 🐯 (@hsytheworld) August 22, 2022

These sentiments came back to haunt Styles as people began to object to his generalisation of the depiction of gay sex in film, mocking the naivety of his comments and listing plenty of films that contradicted his point, not least of all Luca Guadagnino’s immensely successful 2017 film, Call Me By Your Name.

harry styles when he finds out gay sex is two guys having sex: pic.twitter.com/mTJCX1IJGB https://t.co/VxjX5Egco5

— Grindr (@Grindr) August 22, 2022

Styles has long faced accusations of queerbating – where someone uses queer aesthetics without actually being queer – and the interview also touched on this issue, although Styles managed to remain elusive on the question of his sexuality.

“Some people say, ‘you’ve only publicly been with women,’” Styles described. “I don’t think I’ve publicly been with anyone. If someone takes a picture of you with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re choosing to have a public relationship or something.”