Watch Harry Styles' ripped pants rile up fans at L.A. show - Los Angeles Times
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Harry Styles apologizes after pants rip onstage: ‘This is a family show. Or is it?’

A man wearing a striped bodysuit, holding a guitar and standing in front of a microphone onstage.
Harry Styles accidentally tore his pants during a performance at the Kia Forum on Thursday.
(Charles Sykes / Invision / Associated Press)
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Fans in the front row of Harry Styles’ show at the Kia Forum in Inglewood got more than what they paid for Thursday evening, when the “Watermelon Sugar†singer accidentally ripped his pants onstage.

The wardrobe malfunction happened while Styles was singing “Music for a Sushi Restaurant†as the singer slid onto his knees and ripped the crotch area of his brown, shiny leather pants.

“My trousers ripped,†the English pop artist said between songs. “I feel it necessary to apologize to a certain few of you right down in the front there.â€

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The concert, the first of 15 at the Kia Forum, was, as Styles announced, a place to ‘feel free to be whoever it is that you’ve always wanted to be.’

“I promise it’s not part of the show,†Styles joked while walking the stage with a Progress Pride flag wrapped around his waist to conceal his torn pants.

“I mean, this is a family show,†he later said as the crowd erupted in cheers. “Or is it?â€

That “family show†response dates back to Styles’ days with his former boy band, One Direction, and has since become a meme. Aware of its popularity, Styles often drops the line into his performances.

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Harry Styles’ young LGBTQ and nonbinary fans find special meaning and comfort in the pop star’s willingness to defy stereotypes on a grand scale.

Thursday’s concert was the first of three makeup performances at the Inglewood arena after canceling some November shows due to “band illness.†(Among Thursday’s high-profile attendees was Jennifer Aniston.) Those November dates were part of a historic run of 15 sold-out shows at the Kia Forum. Just before that, he also played 15 shows at Madison Square Garden in New York.

On a victory lap for last year’s Grammy-nominated album “Harry’s House,†Styles is set to wrap his North American Love on Tour with a pair of performances at Acrisure Arena near Palm Springs on Tuesday and Wednesday. He’s nominated for six Grammy Awards; the ceremony will be held Feb. 5.

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