Don’t piss off Directioners.
HBO’s teen drama Euphoria has been causing quite a stir with its drug content, violence, and sexuality, causing people online to clutch their pearls and ask that we “think of the children.”
However, the latest controversy comes from a possibly unexpected place. In the third episode of the season, the show delved into Kat’s (Barbie Ferreira) fanfiction writing, which focuses on the fictional sexual relationship between former One Direction bandmates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, a.k.a. “Larry Stylinson.”
The scene was done anime style and depicted the singers having sex backstage before a show.
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO!
Directioners — anyone who was online in 2013 can tell you that this is NOT the fandom that you want to anger — were furious, calling the scene a breach of privacy. One tweeted,
“if euphoria really has an animated larry sex scene i am going to be LIVID that’s so disrespectful and f*cking GROSS”
just saw the euphoria scene of harry & louis & i’m so disgusted. louis clearly said that the ship ruined their friendship & some prick decided to air that on tv with their real names for everyone to see… if we’re this uncomfortable i can’t imagine how they’re feeling
— Jem (@silvercastIes) July 1, 2019
Tomlinson commented on Twitter that he had not been contacted in any way, and seemed rather annoyed about the whole ordeal.
I can categorically say that I was not contacted nor did I approve it.
— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) July 1, 2019
The Euphoria showrunner, Sam Levinson, defended the creative choice in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“Something that I thought was a fascinating or exciting idea was to take this burgeoning curiosity about sexuality that’s ultimately framed through the lens of fan fiction and allow it to come to life. It’s sort of what Kat’s dream would be if she could see an animation of one of her stories. That was the impetus behind it. It’s sort of allowing her wishes to come true.”