Harry Styles sparked one of the biggest laughs of the night on Saturday Night Live when he joked about past “queerbaiting” accusations during his monologue — before surprising viewers with a kiss from SNL cast member Ben Marshall.
The 32-year-old singer hosted the NBC sketch series on March 14 while also pulling double duty as the night’s musical guest. During the episode, Styles performed “Dance No More” and “Coming Up Roses” from his new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
But it was his opening monologue that quickly became the night’s most talked-about moment.
Reflecting on his previous turn hosting the show in 2019, Styles joked about the intense attention his fashion choices received at the time — including accusations of “queerbaiting,” which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as the “practice of trying to appeal to and capitalize on LGBTQ audiences or customers in a deceptive or superficial manner.”
“Back then, people seemed to pay a lot of attention to the clothes I was wearing and some people accused me of something called ‘queerbaiting,’” Styles told the audience. “But did it ever occur to you that … maybe you don’t know everything about me, Dad?”
“I ran it past him. He was fine with it,” Styles added.
The singer then joked about what he’s been up to since his last appearance on the show, describing himself as “tremendously boring.” According to Styles, his recent hobbies include “jogging,” settling into life in “a small, old Italian village,” and working on new music.
That led into a bit about his latest album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally., which he said was inspired by a surprisingly modern source.
“Some people have asked me, ‘Where I got that title from?’ …I did a prompt on Chat GPT that said, ‘Give me the most Italian phrase that ever exists.’ And it came back with…,” Styles said before shouting the album title in an exaggerated Italian accent, drawing laughs from the audience.
“And I loved it because what’s better than kissing all the time?” he added.
That line prompted SNL cast member Chloe Fineman to appear behind him onstage, eagerly waiting for a kiss.
“Which I don’t actually do — I don’t want to kiss all the time,” Styles clarified, sending Fineman walking offstage looking disappointed.
“Sometimes, kissing can be great, if you’re really good at it, and you’re a good person,” Styles continued — which brought Sarah Sherman onto the stage briefly before she also stormed off.
“Or if you have a tight little bum,” Styles added.
That cue brought Ben Marshall onto the stage.
“Hi Ben. What are you doing up here?” Styles asked.
“Well, you said tight little bum … so where’s my kiss?” Marshall replied.
“…Whatever, come here,” Styles said before pulling Marshall in for a kiss.
Turning back toward the camera, Styles delivered the punchline: “Now that’s queerbaiting,” he joked with a wink.
Later in the episode, Styles returned to the SNL stage to perform “Dance No More” and “Coming Up Roses,” both from his fourth studio album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally., which was released on March 6.
