This part of my
One Direction Weed Scandal Aftermath series will discuss the role played by Harry Styles. In the initial, dark days of the scandal, it was apparently important to make sure that the world knew that Harry was
furious with his wayward bandmates.
Very furious.Put before we get to Harry's fury, first, he needed to be comforted. Believe it or not, and I'm not kidding:
there was a puppy.
The article was actually kind of blatant about the whole thing:
Yup, while the whole world was busy entering a minor breakdown over Zayn and Louis having a grand old time in the car, Harry was taking his mind off things by snuggling up with a teeny tiny fluffy pooch, and the pictures are so cute that our heads might explode.Puppy not enough? Another article was circulating the same day which revealed how Harry spends his free time on tour. In contrast to wayward Zayn and Louis, No smoking weed for Harry. Nope! Believe it or not it was revealed that...
Harry knits.
But sadly, it was inevitable that the negative articles were going to hit. And no puppy, no matter how fluffy, could stop them.
On came the stories about how the band was shamed, disgraced, and divided. Most of these articles focused on Harry, because he has been designated as the chosen one by the media and as the member who is ultimately going to Beyoncé out of the group. Therefore, any article about the band breaking up, centers on Harry.
Many of the articles focused on an alleged
confrontation that occurred the day after the scandal broke between Harry and Zayn.
According to these stories the band was hardly talking, and worse:
"It's Zayn and Louis against the others - Harry, Liam and Niall are furious. They had a dramatic meeting last week and Harry was the first to lash out, telling them they'd messed everything up," the source added. "But Zayn turned it around on Harry and accused him of only being interested in himself. Poor Niall has been in tears - he's worried this could be the end of the band."So, the inevitable slant was that the band is breaking up, and Harry wants out! Oh, noes!
Other articles focused on the divide,
with a lot of analysis regarding the boys travel arrangements while on tour. One Direction uses two private planes when they travel. It is generally known, at least among the fandom, that Zayn, Louis and Liam typically travelled in one plane because they are smokers, while Harry and Niall travelled in the other because they are non-smokers. However, the articles painted this as a sign that Harry is Too Good for the rest, and was separating himself from them in preparation for his ultimate departure. (They tend to ignore the part where Niall and Harry travel together, in order to paint it as Harry against all the others... Yay journalism!)
In any case, they make it clear that since the scandal hit, Harry and Niall are now joined by Liam on one plane, and Louis and Zayn are on the other. And airport photos seem to back this up.



<-- Narriam do seem to be flying together now, separately from Zouis... Hmmm. These photos are actually from yesterday, June 13, showing the three boys arriving for the start of the European leg of their current tour in Stockholm, Sweden.
Whatever is actually going on behind the scenes, most of it is rumor and conjecture. Harry has not addressed the matter publicly, nor has any other member of the band, or management, with the exception of Liam's tweets on May 31. Those tweets remain as the sole official response.
Well, what's there to do? More distraction seems in order.
As time passed, distraction appeared in the form of a fanfic author named Anna Todd, who scored a book/movie deal over her mega-opus Harry Styles fan fiction. This story, called
After is
is regarded as the potential next 50 Shades of Grey. LOL. (I've skimmed through parts of it, and can safely say that it has much in common with 50 Shades ;) In any case, it has been quite the buzz. The story has over 300 MILLION hits.
So, it that wasn't enough distraction, is Harry Styles
NAKED in this photo????

Well is he or isn't he! The world wants to know! (This photo of Harry chilling with his cousins appeared on June 3.) And still no answer. ;)
So, that should about cover Harry's role in the Weed Aftermath. I suppose his role could be defined as the Aggrieved Victim, but he has also been successful at distancing himself from the scandal overall. And those stories about One Direction's inevitable breakup are going to continue to circulate, regardless of the scandal, until they finally come true. But the Scandal was a convenient catalyst for their appearance, what with the obvious division it has created. Oh, and did you see how cute that puppy was?
I'm going to quickly touch on Niall in my next post. Did you know that Niall is a living ray of sunshine? And then FINALLY I will get to Zayn and Louis...