Why Harry Styles Threw a Chicken Nugget Back Into the Crowd at a NYC Concert

British musical artist Harry Styles is as celebrated for his music and non-binary fashion sense as he is for his seemingly effortless ability to maintain his cool in every situation. This was the case when Styles found a chicken nugget thrown onto the stage during his recent concert at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, where he is currently in the middle of performing 15 shows through September 21. Picking up the nugget from the stage, fans urged Styles to eat it but he refused, instead sending a powerful message to the venue’s sold-out crowd. 

Animal-rights activist Simone Reyes, an NYC native, was at the concert and shared a video of the incident on Instagram. “Who threw the chicken nugget?” Styles said in the video, prompting the crowd to chant for him to eat it. “I don’t eat chicken,” Styles responded. “Sorry, I don’t eat meat.” Styles reiterated that he does not eat meat in Italian before throwing the nugget back into the crowd. 

After NYC, the Harry Styles: Love on Tour will continue on to Austin, TX; Chicago, IL; Inglewood, CA; before taking the musical artist to stops in Mexico, Australia, and Europe, with a final concert on July 22, 2023 in Italy. 

Is Harry Styles vegan? 

Styles refused to eat the chicken nugget thrown at him on stage because the singer has abstained from eating meat for some time. He revealed this information during an interview with NPR after performing a Tiny Desk concert in April 2020. Styles sat down with host Stephen Thompson to discuss his favorite American football team, Wisconsin’s Green Bay Packers, which prompted Styles to recount a visit to the team’s home stadium, Lambeau Field. 

The popular concession food at the stadium is called a “horse collar” which is essentially a large sausage inside a bun shaped like a horseshoe. “Did you have a horse collar?” Thompson asked Styles. “I did not. I don’t eat meat,” Styles responded. “Yeah. No horse collar for me.” Thompson remarked that the stadium probably does not offer a veggie horse collar, to which Styles responded, “Not in Wisconsin. There’s no veggie horse collar, which is a shame. But it’s probably coming.”

During that same interview, Styles expressed that he was a “big fan” of dairy cheese, the top agricultural product of Wisconsin. While Styles does not consume meat, he has not publicly announced whether or not he still consumes other animal products such as dairy, butter, eggs, or honey. This means that it is not known if Styles is in fact vegan. 

Pleasing

Harry Styles’ personal style 

While Styles has not confirmed that he is vegan, the musical artist has used his fame to help reduce animal suffering in multiple ways over the years. In 2015, during a concert with his band One Direction, Styles called for a protest of SeaWorld, pointing to the park’s continued cruelty of exploiting captive marine animals for entertainment.   

Styles is also respectful of other performers’ lifestyles and during a 2018 concert, he played a fun trick on his opening act Mabel McVey, who he knew was vegan. Styles made sure to source a vegan cream pie to playfully throw into McVey’s face during the final performance of their European tour before covering her with Silly String. 

Last November, Styles also got into the world of beauty with vegan and cruelty-free brand Pleasing. Created to celebrate the beauty of all humans without hurting animals, Styles launched the brand with a set of nail polishes in hues that are meant to be layered and used to create art. 

In addition to being vegan, all Pleasing products are packed in recycled plastics and compostable paper, and are meant to celebrate life’s beautiful moments. Styles also launched an illuminating serum and The Pleasing Pen (a lip/under eye rollerball serum pen) shortly after the nail polish collection. Since then, Styles has expanded the Pleasing brand to include additional nail polishes; beauty products such as moisturizers, tonics, body oils; and apparel such as T-shirts, bandanas, and hoodies. 

“I don’t think being beautiful or feeling beautiful is about looking good,” Styles told Dazed last year. “When people are happy and glowing, they’re radiating. And that’s what I think the products do, it’s about helping you feel beautiful.” 

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