instead of listening to a banger of a no skip album, you all are out here having a discourse about something that's not even valid in this case. just listen to the album and enjoy how hard it slaps

I have my theories as to why it's happening though

Can you share some theories? I can only think that they want free promo but I don't think it's worth it.

Can you share what is your theory why this is happening?thanks

Hi, both of you!

Sure! So there is a couple of things i'm absolutely sure of. This was set up and planned. The syndicated articles also tell me it's being pushed. They want this information out there. I'm also sure that this is coordinated with H's team, since he's implicated here and it affects his image too. So why do they want the information out there? Here are some thoughts;

Louis is on a radio promo tour to sell tickets to his tour. A denial could be to gain attention on himself to sell tickets. What speaks against it is that he did it in larryland aka latam where this won't work as planned, and none of the articles mention Louis is on tour or have tickets to sell. The headlines says it irritates him and he sounds like a pissbaby. Fangirls on the internet think he's dating international superstar, Harry Styles makes him irritated and annoyed? Why does he care so much that he has to deny it over and over again? So what kind of promo is this really? His team could be hoping for his tour being mentioned in the articles, but they didn’t get what they wanted.

He did another denial just six months ago, parmageddon. There is nothing that's triggered the need for a new denial every six months. He needed the attention back then to sell tickets and the presscoverage he got from it did mention he was touring. But this time around it's all larry focused...

Doing a denial every six months will draw attention to something he and Harry shouldn't want attention on. He gets to confirm his narrative that he's F's dad, but doing a denial like this just makes more people interested in the conspiracy theories. They also wonder why he's doing denials so frequently. He's creating more people who'll be interested in the rumours. He's saying don't look, and people will look. They won't buy tickets to his tour, but they will go down the rabbit hole.

What image is he going for? He's connecting himself to H in the media by deliberately pushing it, but also trying to disconnect from him by doing the denial? Distancing himself from H is in accordance with his image, he shouldn't want this attention on himself while trying to appeal to straight indie lads.

So are they attempting to quell the rumours and confirm his public narrative, or is he doing this for another reason? Louis is the one burdened with doing denials for the both of them, so is H about to do something really gay? Is he doing a pre-emptive denial and doing it for Harry?

He's done it twice in six months. Larry brings him a lot of attention. Are they changing things and starting to use larry for promo, or are they wanting eyes on larry because they are working towards a coming out (dare i say it, seeding)? The gay newsites are being super sarcastic, page six used manips, the media isn't siding with Louis on this. They either portray him as someone who's fans irritate him, or they're making fun of him. It isn't helping his reputation or image. It also isn't helping him gain new fans (of his portrayed image).

Things like this make long term larries tired. He always throws us under the bus. He is risking losing fans over this. At one point larries are going to reach their limit and stop buying what he's selling (but still be larries of course).

He's said he came to the conclusion that he can't do anything about it a couple of years ago. He said so be it. He's still doing denials, but he kind of sounds like this is the last time he'll address it and try to stop it? I don't believe this for a second for several reasons, so when is the next one? Next time he's got something to sell? Or?

Will this prompt H to finally respond and they'll double down? Going deeper in the closet?

So it could be several things. If it was just promo i'm really questioning if they're know what they're doing...they are taking some big risks here.

Hi Gina. It just hit me that if Harry was bisexual he would have CO at the beginning of his solo career because there is 0% chance that his team wouldn't have capitalized off it - they capitalize off everything else so why not that? Lol. He would have been encouraged to CO and it would have been a huge boost to his image because he would have appealed to women, men, straights and gays - everyone. He did seem ready to CO after 1D, and when he recorded Medicine the media was reporting that it was a bisexual song and it was his CO... but something changed and the articles were then buried. There's been plenty of times he could have CO as queer, easily with Medicine or even Lights Up. He wouldn't have lost any fans, he would have gained them. They've been pushing this ambiguous image for the whole of his career when it would have been easier for him to just CO as queer, he would have gained more from that. But the fact that he hasn't done it by now when he's had multiple opportunities tells me that he's not in the closet because he's bisexual, it's because he's gay. Being gay isn't as appealing to women (obviously) and he would lose a lot of fans. Although other musicians and actors who have CO have all said that it was worth the career hit, and nowadays it isn't quite as career damaging as it was before. I don't think Harry is in the closet necessarily for privacy reasons because you can CO and still have a private life. I don't know why people take that comment as gospel while dismissing everything else he says. To me it's just a reminder to the gp that he has a private life that is different to his public life. Maybe his closet is more down to the fact that he doesn't like lying and he does it sparingly, which is why he doesn't do many interviews and the ones he does around promo are usually so scripted. So him CO as queer or bisexual wouldn't feel true to himself as a gay man. So maybe he's waiting until he can CO with Louis or another man and not half assed do it. I'm not saying he'll never CO as queer/bi as that is an easier option considering how many beards he has had, but him not doing it much sooner could be down to it not ringing true to him.

Hi sweetheart. I think when he started playing Medicine in concert in 2018 there was a definite push from his team to mark it as a “bisexual anthem”. There were too many articles in major publications at the time for it not to have been syndicated.

Maybe that was seeding an outing that didn’t happen, or maybe they were using the fact that Harry was never going to address it directly to fuel speculation. That way he doesn’t lie, he doesn’t come out, but he’s piqued the interest of queer fans and people who think he’s closeted, still maintains the interest of straight/bi women, and anyone who refuses the idea of him being queer will dig their heels in and battle everyone over it. Voila! Very little risked, very few fans lost, lots of people talking about him, he gets to dress and behave a little more flamboyant when he wants to because now maybe he’s bisexual, and his private life stays private.

As for whether he actually is bisexual, I personally don’t get that impression, but it doesn’t matter to me. He’s somewhere on the spectrum of queer. That seems really clear to me.

And why hasn’t he come out? I don’t think we can possibly guess and I really don’t think we should, TBH. Only he knows what he wants to do and why he’s doing things the way he is. But even if he never discusses his sexuality or who he’s dating, it would make such a difference to see the end of him having these embarrassing PR relationships. But that’s the fan in me talking. His team may feel differently. 🫤

Hi Allie! Was thinking about your answer the other day on being tired of fans creating conspiracies and big evil plans chances to justify Louis career choices and tried to read the Lisa article very rationally. There are some plot holes though. She says Louis doesn't get radio play because of fear of excessive 1D ex members (against him personally) and his music not being the one radios "like" to play sonically and that I call bs. Tons of completely shitty songs are added to blow up on radio and streaming playlists. Louis music could've done way better. She also basically says they had to deal with zero media push and support but fandom was enough which yikes not this again. Fans are so tired of carrying Louis career promo, not getting any results and feeling guilty about it.. I got intrigued cause more and more we're like between the fact that he IS blacklisted (maybe just bc of other 1D members but like why? this is happening for years even before he left Sony/Syco) and the push that he is in charge now and not tied to them anymore so does he really not want to go bigger or he's just tired like us? Why selling another big tour if there's risk of cancellation? Also I obviously don't think Harry blocked him to do anything (that RS article was shiiit and probably paid by OW/Warner) BUT as several other articles again they're putting H as the antagonist, the evil one who gets everything. It's subtle but the idea is there. I'm just confused.

Hey, darling! Yes, I agree with you this is very much bullshit, a very lame excuse when at this point is very well-known that Louis pissed the shit out of a lot of people over the last decade and that's the real reason why they don't want to play his music on the radio or why he doesn't get media support in general - and also why he was shoved in the background during the band and the list goes on and on. I understand the fact his music is in this gap where he isn't either too "pop" or too "indie" also aggravates things a bit, and that's where the marketing efforts get very confusing, but yeah... that's not the actual reason for him not getting radio support and that's blatantly clear both in this article and on his documentary.

And I think Louis is working with what he has at the moment, I do think he's responsible for his own decisions, and if Sony and powerful people in the industry blacklisted him.. I mean, there isn't much he can do about it. I think his team does a pretty lazy job sometimes relying so much on the fans and all, and that's very frustrating, on top of everything. But it's not like BMG can change that for him.

I'm not entirely sure if I understand the last part of your ask though, especially about the risk of tour cancellation and Harry?

Hi Alex! How are you? Seeing the old " louis is I'm control of everything he doesn't really care about his career doesn't want to succeed" discourse doing a comeback, if you don't mind to share, i would love to read your opinion about it. I already imagine what must be, but I really like the way you express your point of view of things ☺️

Now, at least for me, it's worse because it's coming from solo louies :/ and makes me so sad because the things are being said/implied about him are very unfair. i thought at this point, we all knew the difficulties louis has to endure in music industry and that's why is more complicated for him to do something that seems so basic for any other artist, but guess I was wrong.

PS. feel free not to answer, don't want to pressure you

Hi, anon, thank you for the kind words! 💖 In my opinion, Louis' situation doesn't seem to have significantly changed since 2020. His main press is still tabloid nonsense, with the same backhanded compliments if anything—the most recent bit in the Bizarre column could have been from 2017. Even a record breaking livestream and a cool free festival didn't get real press or promotion—before or after the fact. Louis’ earnest support of other artists or celebrities, including so-called friends, has yet to be reciprocated. Can anyone name a single tangible thing BMG have done for him since he signed with them over a year ago? While tour is incredible, its impact seems entirely contained to the established fanbase—and it cannot solve fandom's issues or irreconcilable differences. Is there, honestly, any sign of work being done toward improving Louis’ credibility and visibility as an artist, to prepare for his next music release after close to three years? For other artists touring doesn't mean a complete standstill in terms of their teams continuing that kind of work. And like, I always consider that Louis might opt for the path of least resistence these days, that he might pick and choose his battles, that he might be tired and his goals and expectations and standards might have shifted under unrelenting pressure and mistreatment and the simple passage of time—but even so I don’t believe things as they stand now are how he would want or freely chooses them to be. I definitely don’t think he’s out there refusing genuine promo opportunities, turning down chances of his music reaching more people; that he prefers not to be recognized as an artist, and seemingly directs his ‘friends’ not to show him any professional support, or that he takes his fans and their support for granted, etc.

Unfortunately, fans taking their frustrations out on Louis when reality doesn't match up with their unfounded, unmanaged expectations, isn't new.

To be honest, I avoid discourse these days as we’re finally living the moment we’ve been waiting for and—faith in the future or not—I just want to enjoy the present while it lasts. And what is there to say that hasn’t been said before, you know? But keeping this short, this is where I'm at, personally.

To add to your independent post, Billboard considers Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift as Independent Artist because they are not under the Big 3. Bad Bunny is signed as a distribution deal with a Puerto Rican Label and releases in the US under a contract with Universal Latin and another company so it doesnt count as UMG and Taylor is with Republic Records. Billboard does an Independent Artist Chart each week www billboard com/charts/independent-albums/

thank you for this, very interesting!! (about this) I feel like this really shows how stupid this distinction has become, since obviously by any rational metric Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny (and Louis) have major league representation who operate in particular ways that are basically the same as the Big 3 and are playing on the same level. So it makes sense that despite technically being "independent" Louis considers himself a major label artist. He said that he considered going independent, which in the way he means would mean he (/his team) would have to handle promo, manufacturing, distro deals, wrangling with streaming platforms, everything, themselves, and without the infrastructure to just slot into that a big label have, a part of which is the handshake network of ins at radio stations and tv shows etc etc- but to get that he takes on the trade off of having a label who press for hits and for him to do certain things (both of which he mentioned in yesterday's interview wrt BMG who thought BTM was too alternative and that he should press for radio play, but it's worth noting that Louis got his way with BTM and didn't seem too bothered about going out to do the US thing, this isn't SYCO, it's just a little trade off). And the way Louis phrased it ("what I didn’t want to do is go out on my own and then be sat on me rocking chair when I’m 60, 70 going, maybe I should’ve had one more go with a major label") to me says that even though he had made the decision that his priority was to do what he wanted even if it meant not getting hits, he didn't want to cut off the possibility of having it all, the control and the hits. I love how grounded he seems about it all- like yeah wouldn't that be fun and I will try for it within what feels good for me but beyond that, no, and if it doesn't happen NBD. But yeah, he likes the numbers, he wants to fill stadiums, he's said it and I think he'd say it more if people could also believe that he's also good without it instead of latching onto that as unhappiness with anything less. Anyway IDK anything about the Billboard indie chart thing but I can't help but wonder if it used to actually be a chart for artists who were out there doing things small scale and DIY and because of the ridiculousness of this semantic issue is now just always topped by Bad Bunny or whatever. Honestly the definition should get fixed because there are still artists putting things out themselves or on small labels and not going through major distros or having access to major league promo and for them to share a category with these behemoths (Louis included) who are benefitting from corporate connections and handlers just doesn't make any sense. But since the (outdated and useless) definition does remain in place, I will point out that the fact that Louis can claim and play both sides works out quite nicely for him, and you know that's not just happenstance or luck, he's very clever about these things.

I was being optimistic about the album promo because we're still over a month to get the album, but today it's like he doesn't even care? Like i know he's tired, i completely get that, (that's why I think the dates of the album announcement and bigger than me release were awful), but these days seem so... Like why he's acting like he doesn't have the album he's more proud of coming out in a month? Does he thinks he still has the same fandom who got defenceless to #1 on itunes, or the one who got walls to #1 eight months after the release?? Because he clearly doesn't, most of those fans already lost interest on him, are not larries anymore, or are too busy to stream his music because they only have lives when it comes to Louis, and you can clearly see that on the BTM numbers. Isn't he aware of that?? He literally pays attention to everything the fandom does, so he has to know it. The only idea that comes to me is that he's ok with this, or is already resigned to have this career and doesn't expect anything else. Or maybe he thinks promote his music doesn't fit into his alternative music image he wants to give. Or maybe he thinks he's too cool to use tik tok or social media to promote his own music. Or maybe he's too dumb to fire his useless and stupid team who have to be the most incompetent bunch of people that I have ever seen, probably because he already considers them as family or some shit. I have no idea of what it's going on, but I really hope they have some strategy to engage fans and new people with the album, because I did already feel awful after see the numbers on BTM, to the point I didn't even could to enjoy my first louis's release, and I'm not gonna ruin fitf for me only because his stupid team can't do anything right.

From the Dork interview: "These days, he's less focused on scoring a Number 1 record (although it's pretty certain his fans could get him that)". As @silverfoxlou said, who’s gonna tell him?

I have a hard time imagining he doesn’t know. From the way he speaks about the fandom in the ZS interview, he seems to know a lot about what we say and how we react. So a part seems in touch with the fandom. But then…. Yeah I truly don’t know. In any case BTM and the album will provide a good overview of the current state. Now how will album sales be turned into tour tickets sales? I think he’s coming off the previous situation; Walls didn’t do well commercially but his tour, and his festivals, did. Hence his I don’t care about the album’s charting. But like Sanju pointed out, people who attended LTWT 2022 might not attend the 2023 edition. Especially with a new music genre. It’s very hard to predict…. I think Louis is faith in the future-ing and I guess this tour will still ride on the previous one, but what about the next?

Remember when Louis tweeted that “surely confidence and momentum is enough” for England to advance through the Euro Cup? I’m afraid he’s thinking this at the moment. He has newly gained confidence. For him, he has momentum; the way he’s been talking about rolling from tour to album to tour; how everything he’s doing is going over his expectations; how he’s just on a winning streak. But it doesn’t take much to break a momentum and if we’re looking at the current state of things, it might have happened. And going back to the quote at the beginning, it’s a risky situation to expect your fans to do all the work. Especially when they see that they’re the only ones doing any work.

If we want to be hopeful and *believe*, and think he has a magic trick up his sleeve, then we can imagine BTM was fandom-oriented and proper, big scale, amazing promo will happen for the album release. So there’s actually a proper repertoire to promote him as the artist he’s claiming to be. Faith in the future 🤪🤪🤪

Hello Jordan. I hope you are having a good day so far. I like your pov very much as it feels retable. I have a question which has been bugging me for a while. I fully think Louis isn't a father and even if (say hypothetically) it's proven that he's a father via pos pat test I will never believe he is a father because of the bullshit that babygate is; also, again hypothetically, if he's a father and I believe it, I will unstan cause he's a shitty person and not a lovable human being. I have a read a lot of "how will babygate end" theories. Some of which I find the possible ways to end it (like, custody battle leading to neg dna test, promotion for next album, scammer narrative, etc etc) but Louis looks like a fool in all of those and I can't imagine it not ending in a total fuck up on his side and a literal mess in the gp (by which I also mean other fandoms who are aware of Louis) and our fandom (because some fans believe he'd rather keep it lowkey which isn't possible imo. he breathes and fans get him on trends there's no way he or his team can keep bg end lowkey) I believe it has an end date because if Louis was to play pretend daddy for the rest of his life I think they'd make it easier by saying that he did take a paternity test and it's positive (that would have spared us a lot of years).

I have a lot of thoughts going on inside my head right now. I want it to end ASAP but I feel in none of the possible ways it's not going to affect his career (which he won't want as he just started blossoming). I think it will bring a lot of negetive energy to his career from the anti louis and anti larries. I feel barely 10% of gp will deeply look into it and the rest would just laugh at louis and move on but the point is within the fandom, louis hate is going to rise. Because of this sometimes I worry if they are even going to end it or not even though it's not a sustainable lie, but nothing they can't manage if they absolutely try to fake it because to gp and het fans, anti larries, bg will always make sense and they'll always buy the bullshit as served to them.

I am sorry this is very confusing. I am speaking shit but I hope you understand the turmoil and share your stance on it. Still want it to end in the best way possible but bg ending feels like a fever dream to me and I worry it's not gonna be handled correctly by the team, his het fans and antis.

Sorry for bringing this topic up. Have a great day. Lots and lots of positive energy and strength to you. Stay safe.

hellooooo angel!

sorry, i left this until tonight but i wanted to give you a proper answer!

i can see where you are coming from with your concerns, i do! but i dont really have the same worries. yes, ending bg will be a huge scandal but a scandal generates press and press is good even if it's kind of shitty.

i don't think ending it could really harm his career as i am of the mindset that they would use it to get his name circulating again to promo his music. the only way i see bg harming his music career is for them to not end it as soon as possible now that we are getting new music teased. that's my personal opinion on it! yeah, his name might get dragged through the mud a bit but no where near the amount it has been in the past. mostly people might just feel sorry for him...

i get concerns about how his team might handle it but i truly hope that louis has far more control now...knowing him he has likely been very meticulous about how to end it.

when it comes down to it we have no idea how it will end and they (louis and his team) have no way of exactly predicting how the fanbase and the gp will react but i do know that i will be there supporting him harder than ever and getting blackout drunk when it does end.

[2] Feb. 13th 2021: Taylor Swift re-recording of Love Story // Fearless Taylor's Verison; thoughts

The time has finally come for the re-recording of Love Story to come out. If you don't know Taylor Swift's 2008 hit Love Story was released on the behalf of Taylor herself 13 or so years later. And she announced that her second studio album Fearless would be re-releasing on April 9th.

I'm not the biggest Taylor Swift fan, I do however really enjoy her 1989 and Reputation albums very much. But I have heard bits and pieces about the drama between her and her old record label, Big Machine Records.

Here is what I know (I do not know the full story), Scooter Braun who manages artists like Justin Bieber and Arianna Grande. I believe he managed her for many years. Which me being a Justin Bieber fan since 2012 I didn't know he was connected with her. But she recorded her first six albums (Fearless to Reputation) under Big Machine Records, Taylor left the label in 2018 and signed with Universal Music group (Which has artists like One Direction Jay-Z, Prince, and Lady Gaga just to name a few). Then started to release albums like Lover, Fork and Evermore under that label. Since her departure Scooter now had the rights over it.

Taylor was obviously not happy about that, she puts out a lengthy Tumblr post (The link is up top). To take a step back, this was around the American Music Awards in 2019 when she was awarded, "Artist of the Decade". The segment I'm going to quote is taking about how Scooter told her to not preform her older songs durning her performance when she was litteraly awarded such a big achievement (if that's the word, link to the performance is up top).

“Guys—it’s been announced recently that the American Music Awards will be honoring me with the Artist of the Decade Award at this year’s ceremony,” ... “I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be rerecording my music before I’m allowed to next year.”

As someone who has seen mangeners / mangements basically taking advantage of their cleints all too well is obviously sad, but this is something that is on a whole other level. As someone who was born between 2000 and 2008, her old songs are very nastolgic and that could be why she wanted to play those songs durning such a special night. For fans who have been there since the start. But the fact that the higher ups are not letting her do it becuase of the whole re-recordings is once again sad.

She goes on to say,  “The message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished. This is WRONG. Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of those songs. They did nothing to create the relationship I have with my fans. So this is where I’m asking for your help.”

This is a prime example of how corrupt the music industry really is. All of the mangers / thier teams just want to make a profit out of thier clients and disregard that thier clients are doing music becuase it's a passion, not a profit.

Taylor isn't the first nor the last artist who is a puppet in the industry and needs to be all hush and quiet. Example: 5 Seconds of Summer, band member Michael Clifford was under hot water as soon as CALM came out (I will not be discussing this topic further, becuase it may trigger some people) and thier mangement Modest! told them to be quiet, and the band basically went agaisnt their wishes and spoke out about the topic and threw Modest! basically under the bus for not letting them speak out about it. Louis Tomlinson and Syco Records is an another example (I will be doing a blog about it in the near future).

One thing I will always be mad about is Haylor, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift that's a PR stunt. (I will be explaining what is a PR stunt in another blog) Regardless if they loved each other or not you could tell they where put together becuase of marketing purposes. Durning thier time as a PR stunt (late 2012 - early 2013) Taylor was trying to break into the pop scene becuase she was known as a country artist. So I guess someone decided to put Taylor with someone who was apart of the biggest pop boybands of the early 2010's and beginning to reach their peak durning this time, Harry Styles from One Direction.

When they where a thing I was young and I didn't understand these marketing strategies so I bit into it. But now as I got older looking back now it was stunt to promote their albums. Here was the two dead give aways in my own personal opinion, Taylor Swift's first "pop" album is Red and that came out October 22nd 2012. One Direction released their sophomore album Take Me Home on November 9th 2012. 18 day inbetween each other. If the albums where months apart, then maybe yea it'll be believable. The second thing that was a dead give away in my eyes was how basically after the hype that comes when an album releases (first week sales, charts, a little bit of promos, etc.) the two separated. Again if they lasted until like middle of 2013 it would've been more believable then sperated straight after all of the hype.

Now we talk about the re-recordings, in Nov. 2020 she could finally start re-recording her first six albums (Fearless-Reputation). Of course she can't re-record and re-releass them in a span of a year. But the fact that this door is slowly opening to her is amazing. She finally has the control that SHE wanted for the past decade. I will never stop saying this, artist should have 100% control of what they do, music should be a creative playground not a tycoon or a way for big companies who are already weathly and have so much power to begin with to have more power.

What she's doing with re-releasing Love Story yesterday, Feb. 12th was the right step to take. I also saw people on Tik Tok mentioning this and this is amazing, if you take a look at the new Fearless cover. There's no name of any kind, it's just her. And if you look at the credits and look for the record label (I believe it is) it says, "Taylor Swift". You may say to yourself, "Isn't that the whole point in these Taylor Verisons?" Yes, but it also shows that she's doing all of the re-recordings for her fans not because of profit.

What?! No I'm not !! the only side I am in is that of my way of seeing the world, my conscience, my cynical character and experience. Because I am very selective and I have chosen people to follow. I don’t follow you because you are a Louie but because I consider you a smart girl, so seeing how easily many have fallen into this, imo, manipulation hurts me. For Louis above all else. Because I remember being one of the first in 2018 to speak openly about Sony Sabotage in HS2 favor and I perfectly remember what and how it was answered to me!!

Because I remember Why I looked for the Rads ....and how the world has turned upside down 🤣 Having moved away from Styles for other reasons, having taken a different approach before this perhaps affects my thoughts and reasonings but how can you not understand that you are doing exactly what Sony wants (regardless which Label we will discover has louis now) years of Larries VS Anties hasn't really opened your eyes? How is it possible? Have you ever noticed how many Louies (not larries) always write "team" and never "Sony" Have you ever noticed how full their accounts are with everything Harry does / doesn't do in real time? Twenty-five years of Kardashian (Hello Uncle Irving) did not help to understand StarSistem is based on chatter and not only on good things? They often update before Larries! if you want to know what happens in Harry Styles life follow a Louie. nice no? If you watch MV to "see how shabby it is" and then talk about it on social, however, you contribute to creating curiosity, chatter, comments, quarrels. If you always complain using Harry as a yardstick, you keep Louis in this funnel that L is crushed in one way or another. If you look back and you don't see how much 2015!Louis was tired and only blame Xander for that , thinking that he was happy for singing a bit more because Zayn was gone or for the water fights with Liam it is you who considers him half of a ship!! If you confuse his nostalgia and humility for lack of ambition or trust , you consider him half of a ship. If you love Louis and have decided that Harry is an active part of his sabotage why don't you get to completely ignore him, always, in the most absolute way after having clarified your position? And if you have decided this, how can you accept Niall and Liam, whom you consider his brothers do not take sides with him but rather, as soon as they can, they raise Star!Styles? Have you ever thought about how he can feel seeing that his fandom, while insulting Styles' new life, spends days asking for OneDirection!Louis? And the braces, and the hair, and the beanie, the headband, and the tank top .. he had to admit this is frustrating but nevertheless Louies continue and if you point it out the answer is "Old!Louis receives more likes " 😒

anyway let's go.. “Because I loved Styles anyway and I have a past with him” Ok. Let's start from here then. Azoff and Sony in 2013 begin to seriously plan H solo career. Azoff has a story, a very clear story, but you voluntarily ignored it at that time, only to blame Styles for choosing them (being chosen) now!! Like three silly kids Louis Niall and Liam until 2016 believe in an 18-month hiatus 😂 . Do you really think they are so naive? Seriously? Louis William Tomlinson who at 20 sees a hole in the writing process of the band and turns everything upside down does not understand what is the destiny designated? Among other things, the same for all boyband before 1D and info easily accessible on google But “he was in love "ok. But then you have to admit you start from the starting point that you now strongly reproach Larries. You have to admit you are living in Young & Beautiful Spin Off because instead I see a strong, smart, brilliant man, who for 10 years has been fighting tirelessly for his individuality. I think this passive Louis is the result of the FF you read because you are the first who make everything go around Styles, even before Sony. Someone stuffing your head saying Harry doesn't need Larries anymore. Are you Sure? Because business is brutal and Labels don't exist for your enjoy. They don't invest in you leaving you power. It is quite the opposite. The more you make money, the more you are a puppet. Just check the difference in numbers between H and Justin, Ariana, Selena, Ed, DuaLipa to understand what I mean!

the Direction taken is the right one, it is having a good success - well deserved - but, believe me, not enough to justify the investment made. And do you really think Azoff, manager since the barter still existed, evaluates the point of view of a 25-year-old who even made almost deny the first album? Who no longer took his mommy on holiday when Harries started complaining about her presence? Do you really think these guys signed contracts to their advantage (I'm not talking about money of course)? Do you really think Styles can say in Sony -I don't do this-? Based on what? Do you blame Harry for his ambition but do you really think he has alternatives? Especially in Sony that has no other icons of this generation? Someone make you believe Harry is loved by everyone but have you ever come out of the fandom bubble to read what so many locals write about him? don't you read how much hate he receives? Azoff arrives in 2013, from that moment on did you see his life change for the better? Less work, more attention to his health or did you see him arrive at the end of 2015 without voice? or do you think "better life" is going out with Taylor Swift and Kaya Gerber Because in that case you love the life Louis says he hates 😟 And considering the type of music he produced, do you think his 2021worldtour is to safeguard his voice and health? Really!? And how is it possible if Azoff loves Harry person and not Harry MoneyMachine? Do you really think Harry is so naive that he doesn't know this? Do you often notice how bad it is aging, How dull are his eyes.. Isn't this already an answer? And if you want to say "that's what he deserves" wow do you remember that you don't really know them and that they are only singers / strangers you love? They are not really your son? that you've never been to their room and their songs aren't a gossip magazine?

Same talk about Louis Fam. Louis Tomlinson openly lashes out against Euphoria chatting with his HetStalkerNumberOne creating more promo or against Zayn when he drops GY but is unable to tell his stepfather / sisters to stop using his life like that? Really? Or do you think he did this but Mark ignored that ? Everyone uses him but he, passively again, cannot do anything. Do you really think Louis is this? Why? Look Louies focused on commenting What Harry is doing in istagram? Look how much power they are giving this stupid thing? They put Harry at the center of Louis' life, they considered him Mrs L. Styles weak and closed in the suitcase with the only ambition to jump on his cock. why this daily need to highlight how disappointed you are with the person who has become? Are you more concerned that Harry cheated on Louis or that Harry cheated on you? Because if you think Louis has a new life why you don't go on too? The position is clear, why keep playing the Sony game? How do you think Louis feels when he sees his fandom has absorbed that his pubblic life has been closely linked to his girlfriend for years now? When you read that H's lunch with stringer was cruel and nobody mentions anymore three days later he was paps with El and the dogs? Just because The Sun canceled? What does it matter he had to undergo this, he had to get out of bed, go out and go to the pap (in 2020 only if you are 12 you can think that the paps are not scheduled) You can also think that there is a friendly relationship with E but why you accept that she is also present when a month later they go to GoKart? Why can't only Louis spend The first Christmas without Fizzy and Jay with his sisters? Why can't Louis alone participate in the B.L.M. march? We told ourselves that the cause was more important than the company and it is true. But important for whom? For us or for him that of B.L.M. did speak before everyone when it wasn't “trendy” ? Why doesn't even his fandom fight for his freedom? from everyone?! Why Do you think this imposition is healthy for him? Or do you think he chose this, because if you think this then all JLYMV was a joke for you and it's okay but I ask you, do you really believe that it is no longer hard for him suffer the presence of Eleanor than a Harry Styles SmileyNails ? Are we talking about what's harder for him or for you? Does Louis individual really care about anyone? Because my heart breaks to see how, even if it were reality, his pubblic life is linked to this girl as if she were the star! Everyone has a girlfriend but not even Kilye Jenner was so present in Travis Scott's career, private life. Why don't you rebel against this? Why "thank you Eleonor" ? Why is your selfishness more important than he has to live this actively? Why do you think it is easy for him after 10 years? Whatever your opinion about , Louis has not interacted publicly with Freddy since 2018. Why don't you get angry with Louies who do not care about this and clog social with his pics not respecting Louis' will? Why do you only get angry with a certain part of fandom and not with those who help a small group of people to spread this child's face wildly despite Louis not doing it? Why don't you ask yourself "louis does not do this, it is the case that I do it"? Who is your Louis landmark or the baby's family? Why is Louis never enough? Why don't you see Louis' individual freedom is not seized by Harry Styles but by Sony which is who should protect him from Azoff / Styles? If your answer is "Sony does not believe in him enough" I'm sorry I have news for you, you believe Louis tomlinson is not worth enough .. and while you continue this useless fight between Louies Larries Labels will continue to use Harry, Louis for their bank accounts and only for that laughing at us whatever the real personal situation between the two of which I honestly care zero but, as you can see, in one way or another it is still at the center of our attention and if Larries have the justification "I believe in them" what excuse do you have?

This fandom drives me crazy. I want to scream to the high heavens that Harry and Louis haven't endured 10+ years of closeting, abuse, trauma, gaslighting, stunting and beards because they are trying to protect a gay relationship. Louis isn't willingly sabotaging his own career, attacking 90% of his fanbase and making himself a laughing stock because hey, that's much better than people thinking he's gay. Harry isn't happy to be labelled a womanizer, homewrecker or queerbaiter and having his community turn against him, and Louis isn't happy to string an innocent kid along and to be labelled an absent father and a homophobe... all in the name of having a private relationship!!! They haven't been driven to alcohol and smoking and drugs because a private relationship is more important to them than their own health and freedom. Not to mention that they don't have to do any of those things to have a private relationship in the first place. Just CO and don't talk about it? Simple. What are these fans smoking??? Actually I can't blame them too much because there has been so much gaslighting. But I want to ask them.... what would it look like for Harry and Louis if they did want to CO and scream about their relationship but there is something forbidding them from doing so like a contract or image clause? It wouldn't look any different from now right? They'd still be stunting and gaslighting and denying. So why do fans jump to the privacy argument when there is no proof of that. I understand the safety argument a bit more, like lgbtq+ crimes do happen and conservatives target lgbtq+ people. Could that be a big factor? I'm sure there are safety measures they can take. But the argument against staying closeted for that reason is that their unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with their closet like drinking, smoking and drugs can be equally damaging. Unhealthy habits and stress will impact their physical and mental health and that shouldn't be ignored. The argument that they're protecting their career doesn't make sense either when people are CO and it's doing no damage to their career. Facts dispel those arguments. So there is more at play like contracts, or they're biding their time, or maybe S*ny is holding something over them. But they're not doing all this for a private life. That's silly.

Under the cut are my answers to several asks about the aftermath of Louis larry denial in Latam.

Hi, anons!

I think what you're really trying to say is that this fandom makes you frustrated...

I agree with you so much. The privacy argument is a weak argument for several reasons which i've covered before. They're not closeted because they want privacy. They're private because they have to be because they closeted. The closet is clearly making them miserable and unhappy. So there must be other forces at play stopping them from coming out. If they could they would come out.

The more I think about Louis bashing on us the more I actually don’t get why he is doing it. It seems that he tries to get some headlines as you say and his previous chickengate was just after the latam dates were announced and now it’s during the latam promo. But from the selling point of view it doesn’t bring him any benefits, even the opposite, the listening or engagement numbers don’t lie and they are declining significantly every time he is talking about f or attacking us. Is his team that unprofessional and can’t create a positive promo for him that they are using some outdated tactics? They seem so lazy and at the same time desperate to sell enough tickets so they don’t have to cancel it.

Do you think he knew that this interview will be released as one of the last ones and F was sort of blacklisted topic at the previous ones? Or is it just a coincidence?

I think it's three things. It's to confirm his image as a straight lad to appeal to men, it's to deny larry to silence the speculation around H (L does the dirty job for the both of them), and it's to get attention, his name out there to sell tickets to his tour. Is it as smart thing to do for his own career? Temporarily maybe, but not in the long run.

y’all can’t decide if these denials give him attention or if they damage his career by driving away larries like what is the narrative here

It's not a coincidence at all. It's also not a coincidence it was among the last ones released. If he'd done it early we'd be pissed an no one would have greeted him at the airports lol.

I love both louis and harry and while I have never really identified myself as a larrie (the term), it's not unlikely to me that they dated. but people need to realize, louis does not give a single fuck about how harry feels when it comes to that situation and that makes me doubt A LOT. like why do you all want harry to date someone who goes out of his way every single time to deny that they're dating, to call it bullshit, to say something along the lines of "yeah freddie is so important to me but harry clearly isn't". I know he didn't exactly say it but it comes across as that. he's not only talking about it when he's being asked about it, he goes on twitter to scream at people because they asked him about chicken. do you think he does that while lying next to harry before shutting off his phone and kissing him goodnight? I don't know the truth and I know that closeting does a lot to people but this is not just him saying its not true, it's so much more and I just don't see any of that being real. At least not at the moment. Louis would be a proper arse if they were actually dating and I know he speaks highly of the people that he loves. but maybe that's just me

But why can't it be both at the same time? These denials do give him attention which he needs, but it drives away tried larries while also making new ones. The new ones aren’t long term loyal fans, they're casual fans who will buy tickets to his show, but they won't stream his music a year from now. So they're probably temporary fans only. Loyal fans are more valuable and he's driving them away. He's doing actions whith a short term effect, while the foundation is crumbling.

I don't think you understand that Louis (or Sony with control over his twitter account) is doing this for the both of them. Harry's image can't afford to do denials or their relationship. He's come off as homophobic and intolerant of fandom culture. Louis has had this role from 2012 when he first started denying larry and yelling at fans. So it's better for both their images that Louis takes on this role. That's also why he was given bg and not H. Louis got 90% larry fans so he can handle it and still have a career. Harry can't.

I'm pretty sure a tweet from Pop Base was not what his team had in mind when they used a question about Larry for promo. All the UK and US tabloids have ignored what he said so he threw Harry under the bus for nothing.

See the answer above this. He isn't throwing H under the bus. He's doing it for the both of them. I think they banked on this getting presscoverage. Louis needs it to sell tickets, and H needs his fans to know he's not with Louis.

When he was in Australia he had 3m Spotify monthly listeners. Fast forward to today and he has 2.902m so he has lost 100k since then and 40k since March 30th when he was on 2.943m. So something he is doing isn't appealing to music fans.

No, his image is shit. But it's been awhile since we've gotten new music from him and it's normal for monthly listeners to decline when you're not putting music out regularly. His numbers shouldn't decline this much though...

Most big artists are trying to appeal to the lgbtq+ community and they could only dream of a large queer fanbase like Louis has. But here Louis is trying to appeal to straight men lmfao but the straight men aren't interested. He's doing all he can to win them over and it's not working, even did an interview on a popular platform for straight men and he didn't appear to gain any fans from it. You can't make it up lmao. I think he is stuck with this fanbase so he should try embracing it. Insulting Larries when they make up 90% of his fanbase. He needs to be careful. It's the bulk of those fans who sell out his shows and buy his music.

True. But he's stuck with an image as a straight homophobe and they probably already have most larries onboard as a fan. He needs new fans, and he can't change his image to appeal to larries to get new fans onboard because that would mean looking gay. Bg is still a thing and so is his relationship with H. L looking gay affects H's sexuality and relationship speculation. Sony can't have that so...

How long will we suffer this mockery? How much time must pass before we understand that Larry was real, but now it's just marketing?.that even Larry denials are functional, because they make people talk? what do they use us now? the bad thing is that only I feel this way

Well, i've suffered it for almost 12 years now. Larry is still real, and it's not used positively for marketing (i wish). It is used for attention and headlines though, by Louis only. There is nothing wrong with using larry as a marketing tool. I just object to them doing it while shitting on larries. I'd love to be larriebaited.

marte, I honestly really pity antis and larries. Like we're both being gaslit extremely hard. Like, this insane....especially if you think about it this way: louis and harry want to get rid of larries, but when they CO they DO want their support....? After calling them conspiracy theorist for so long?.....

I think you mean to say it's unreal or preposterous?

Neither Louis nor Harry wants to get rid of larries. Not even Sony wants that. They just want the gp to think they're straight. Both H and L knows and appreciate larries sticking around despite treating us like shit over the years. They're closeted and under contracts so they don't have a choice. That's their saving grace and what's going to make fans forgive them when they come out.

It's not going to chart anywhere with no televised performances and no radio play, you dumb dickhead. There's being optimistic and there's clinging to idiocy because you want to deny everything isn't fucking great for Louis. Sony is NOT going to promote him beyond the most minimal of efforts. They haven't even provided the song to All-Access. That said, I'd rather he got to do a small amount of promo that he can be proud of rather than the humiliating hoops he's been made to jump through before.

Normally I’d block this kind of ask, but I’d like to make a couple points and I think the end is ok.

Why is it that you think coming to my inbox and calling me names is the right move? I’m game for differing opinions but I’d really love a little less hostility.

A thing that confuses me about the fandom is how so many people speak about things we cannot possibly know with such absolute certainty. Personally, I know virtually nothing with absolute certainty.

I’m not sure I’ve said anywhere that Kill My Mind would chart without considerable label support. I believe what I’ve said is that I don’t think the obsession with charting serves us or Louis. I think I’ve also pointed to his post about going his way and not being concerned with it either.

I’ve also said that I want to wait and see rather than judge every damn thing every minute. I operate from a place that says, I’m going to be optimistic rather than think everything is fucked. I realize not everyone operates from this place, but I do.

I do agree with your last bit though. I do want Louis to engage in promo (and everything else) in the ways that he wants to. Which, so far, that’s what it looks like to me. The people that are writing and talking about the song are saying lovely things.

My perception is that his UK and US teams are on different pages and I’d like to see what happens when US promo starts and what happens after Madrid.

I’m not sure how any of this makes me a dickhead 🤷‍♀️

hi there! i'm still somewhat new to this fandom but i'm familiar with bg and everything so i'm just wondering why people believe that liam is also stunting with cheryl? is he believed to be gay as well and this relationship with her and his baby is just another cover up? like i understand why people believe louis isn't really a dad but i don't see as much regarding liam? can you try and explain this??

Hi Nonnie!

First of all, welcome to the fandom. It’s a mess, but it’s our mess lol

I’m gonna be honest, when I first got this ask I had no clue where to start explaining just how fake Chiam is, and I wish I had a textbook answer for you. The best way I can put it is that literally everything about it makes no sense logically. None of it. Prepare for a lot of rambling.

Not sure how into the fandom you are, but if you’ve heard of RBB/SBB, they foreshadowed Chiam on Liam’s bday in 2015 at a show, using toothpaste labeled “Colegate” which is a nod to her first marriage, and the original babygate which had been labeled a couple months earlier.

As far as timelines go, Sophiam ended late October 2015. Charcole actually got married for the second time in mid 2014, and while her and her husband seperated in late 2015, they both wore their wedding rings into 2016, despite the fact that later it was hinted that Chiam began at the XF final in 2015. Chiam was announced in the exact same way every other stunt is: via an exclusive to Dick Wattpad from the Sun. Baby rumors started a couple months later, nearly 2 full months before the date Charcole supposedly conceived. During this time, Chiam made a few public appearances, all staged red carpets or pap walks, and they were never spotted together by fans outside of these. Charcole had a baby bump months before she was pregnant, and baited the media by putting her hand over her stomach in multiple events. After she became “pregnant”, Liam basically moved to LA and lived there for her entire pregnancy. He began partying, worked on his album, and acted like a single guy for the duration with no care in the world for Charcole. What a normal thing for a dad-to-be to do. They never officially announced the pregnancy, she just turned up obviously pregnant in December 2016, and then posed for Loreal with a massive bump on a campaign released in February. Her bump changed in sizes and height throughout the pregnancy, but she went into hiding so it was difficult to actual tell what was going on, which was 100% the point. The birth was announced via a single photo of Liam with a baby, despite the fact that usually moms pose with their baby. To this day, we’ve never seen the baby’s face, and Charcole has yet to show off her pride and joy. Privacy is one thing, but this is another thing entirely. If it wasn’t for Liam babbling on, you’d have no clue she had a kid.

So what are my issues with Chiam? First of all, her association with Satan Cowbell. They are besties. Judges together on XF, and recently I found out that she’s also an executive producer. Chiam was used to promote XF in late October with probably the cringiest moment they’ve had yet. If you hate Satan because of what he did to Louis/Harry, you better be concerned that Liam “willingly” shacked up with one of his friends.

Secondly, timing. Liam was planning a solo career. It’s been his dream for over 10 years. Why on earth would he decide to settle down in the middle of trying to launch his solo career, just months after ended a long term relationship? Basically this stunt forced him to “choose” between his career and his kid, which is NOT something that a loving partner would put you through. Charcole was also married until late 2016. If she was so desperate for a baby, wouldn’t it make more sense to have it with your husband rather than a guy 10 years her junior in a completely different stage of life? She’s old but she still has time. Literally everything about this relationship was set up to fail. Also, what exactly do they have in common? They moved so quickly that Liam never had to talk about her/why they are even dating. To me, the only things they have in common are that they were both in a band (with very different experiences..) and they have a kid together. Nice.

Thirdly, Charcole’s presence in his promo. In 2014 she released an album that flopped pretty badly because she really can’t sing at all her. Her fame came from her very public relationship drama and her association with XF when it was at the height of it’s fame. Her career is pretty much over and she’s most likely desperate for anything to reverse this progression. What better way to find new fans than to try and tap into one of the largest fandoms out there? Of course, she didn’t take into account the fact that we aren’t 13 year old girls with no brains, and therefore aren’t going to blindly stan her like people did with Sofa and Elk in the past. She’s ridiculously problematic as a person (she punched a woman in the face for doing her job and got convicted for assault, admitted to attacking her ex husband, dodged taxes via a shady company that closed in 2014 right when she turned up suddenly married to JB. The list goes on and on), and from what I’ve seen her personality stinks, so why would we support her? For the most part, people either dislike her or just don’t care at all. Bummer. Liam’s promo was the only way for her to get positive news out there about herself without her doing all the talking. Unfortunately for her, Liam went overboard and now people hate her just as much, if not more, than they did before this stunt. Just to be clear: normal celebs don’t launch their careers by constantly telling stories about their kid, s/o and hyping up their accomplishments from 8 years ago.

Fourthly, body language. This is a big one. Liam’s eyes in the very first selfie of them scared me to death because he looked so upset and resigned. Literally screaming for help with his facial expression. All along, the lack of intimacy between Chiam is pretty hard to dispute. They are not comfortable together at all, and I know some media sites called them out for faking affection on red carpets when they are distant in private in May 2016. Liam was a lot better at faking it last year as well, because he’s nothing if not professional. At XF this year, it was literally painful to watch them interact, and I made a post about that when it happened. Basically, as a couple they don’t have the familiarity that they should have considering all they’ve squeezed into less than two years. Liam also doesn’t talk about her fondly at all. If you pay attention, a lot of his comments just about her are negative: she scolds him, nags him, rolls her eyes at him, dresses him (in hideous pants, someone burn those), makes all the decisions about the baby, critcizes his music, etc, but at least she was famous back when he was 15 eh? (Them meeting at 14/24 when she was married for years is just another nasty aspect. She was in a mentor role and I’m disgusted she was okay with this stunt. It’s so wrong on so many levels.) Overall she sounds pretty awful to me, and that’s just based off of the picture Liam is painting.

And finally, the saga of Conchobear. The difference between actual celebrities having babies (think Beyoncé), vs Charcole is hilarious. No one ever saw her stomach when pregnant, she hid for months before and after the birth, and low and behold she popped back up with a new face! That’s the second 1D mom to get extensive plastic surgery when she should be caring for an infant. I seriously doubt she actually was pregnant, but that’s not something I’ll go into here. Liam was out working on his career a month after the announcement, and has been travelling pretty consistently since. He’s missed multiple important holidays; for example, on Father’s Day he flew from the US to Italy for a fashion show, and then back to the US. On Conchobear’s 6 month bday, Liam went out and did interviews. Do you really think that if Liam was an actual dad, he wouldn’t make every effort and move mountains to spend as much time as possible with his firstborn son? It just doesn’t make sense with what we know about Liam’s personality. He’s responsible, and he wouldn’t put himself in this situation. What he says, what we are fed, what he does, and what we know about him as a person don’t line up at all. Liam sounds like an amazing involved dad with his tales, but he lacks a basis in basic human development; his stories are cute and so unrealistic. Thus, Liam hasn’t spent any significant time with a baby. The entire stunt has been setting up single mom!Charcole, but Liam’s team has made sure to prevent her from calling him a deadbeat via the stories. It’s hard to say he was never around when he’s gushing about the kid in every interview. He’s also gotten worse at lying recently, and I get the feeling he’s tired.

So yeah, basically every aspect of this relationship is messed up in one way or another, and I’m expecting to see Chiam end sooner rather than later. If they are both out working on material, they won’t be able to hold it together imo. There’s definitely stuff I’ve missed and if any of my mutuals/followers want to add to this feel free. This is just stuff I thought of off the top of my head.

For specific examples of some of what I’ve mentioned you can check out the Twitter thread I linked below. It has some great resources and that account in general is amazing at breaking down stunt events. I’m also gonna reblog a post comparing Chiam to Zigi (another dead fauxmance) and Hiddleswift that is pretty interesting for you to look over.

https://twitter.com/EndBabygates/status/856439540831195137

Enjoy your stay in the fandom Nonnie. If you have any specific questions or need recommendations for who to follow, shoot me a message!

i totally agree with your take about the letter i see louis right now as an artist that just wants to continue creating music "but like he always says that but he would appreciate being number 1!!" he really never ask as for a number 1 spot that is our way of saying thank you to him for releasing music and as a form of support and with all the interviews he had where he says tiktok is shit well i can see where he is coming from some fans see feel pressured to make him trend in tiktok or whatever trending social media platform to reach the gp yeah i understand that too he already shared that he participates in team planning so whatever bmg has planned for him has gone through him i don;t see why theyre asking for too much like they wanted louis to be like what you said the things he used to do in 1d i mean let's be honest here louis isn't releasing music to make more money it's mostly for the fans so whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy im really tired of arguing about this to other people so its nice to see ur take

Yeah I think Louis saying how nice it is for fans to also be part of that may have caused this reaction, but at this point, I think people are just trying to fix something that doesn't need to get fixed. Like I said, I think it lacks so much perspective and nuance because I bet these are the same people trending #FreeHarry because they believe his team is holding him captive and making him do stuff just for fame. So they're trying to turn Louis into the same thing, charts, numbers, fame, overexposure. Louis is not Harry, Louis is not One Direction... I think people truly missed his entire journey as a solo artist and how confusing and hard it was for him to understand that looking for a hit single was not his goal. And only when he got rid of this concept was when he was able to finally do the music he wanted to do, that's when he left Syco. It's pretty disturbing to think fans are kind of trying to drag him to this same place he felt so unhappy and lost at some point.

We all want Louis to succeed as much as possible, FITF is such an amazing album and I get the feeling like people need to know him!!! he's amazing!!! people are missing out!! lol I truly do. But every marketing strategy has a brief, every career has a goal. And for everything Louis has been saying lately, this is absolutely not what he's going for. Yes... some of the promo was weird as fuck, especially some interviews, I really don't understand the purpose of it. So we all have different ideas of what should be done and something different to complain about. But the point is that Louis kind of just wants to tour now and do his thing without anyone bothering him, without Sony breathing down his neck. That's BMG job and I think they're pretty decent so far. Louis looks so happy and so proud of the album. So, really, people need to take a step back and understand what they're saying when they write open letters like that, what is being implied, what are the consequences of getting what they're asking for. Because it feels like quite a lot of fans lately have been having a really hard time accepting what Louis is and what he wants, it's so much about what fans want him to be.

I don't think @ing Louis's team has done any good this year. Other than being cathartic for us. All it's really done is intensified the bitterness, which Louis then pays for. It's also given us quite a reputation, which also doesn't do Louis much good. Whether or not people believe Louis's tweet was him the other day-- the sentiment was a good one. Draw a line under it and move on. I feel like the most constructive thing people can do is stream/buy/request. @ing his team isn't working.

Hi, anon.

I see your point. And I agree to an extent that it’s not much use, to be honest. However, I’m not sure I quite agree with you about the rest.

1D fans have always had a reputation—the articles about the backlash against Ash London, while focusing on “the Louis Tomlinson fans”, did reference the Directioners’ crazed, dangerous fanaticism. And multiple times during Louis’ promo interviewers have referred to fans as ‘crazy’—‘intense’ say the kinder ones—actually prompting Louis to defend us.

This isn’t coincidental: LTHQ have continued 1DHQ’s routine of encouraging the media to portray us in a certain way. You might notice how Harry’s press has tended to cast his fans in a more positive light. Even though there’s quite an overlap between Louis and Harry’s fans, and even though harries have been known to be bullies and generally disgusting. You also might wonder why interviewers find it acceptable to disrespect (on air and on social media) the fan base of an artist they’ve invited onto their show. For the same reason they feel comfortable disrespecting Louis himself, which is that his team does nothing to protect him and they know they are siding with those in power rather than with the person who has a target on his back.

In any case, when I say call them out I don’t mean call them names, I mean ask and point out specific failures and undermining actions. And I definitely don’t mean antagonizing interviewers for following his team’s instructions. But if someone wants to politely ask a radio station why they would choose to sum up an interview 95% about music with a headline about his fatherhood, then why not? We are not just fans, we are consumers, with a right to an opinion, and a voice. And it doesn’t have to be just negative. I would encourage everyone to like and comment on good interviews and press, nice tweets, etc. 

I personally think the draw a line under it and move on tweet referred specifically to the Ash London debacle, but that’s open for interpretation, of course. 

As for intensifying their bitterness… I too have worried whether calling them out can lead to further punishment for Louis. But, honestly, anon, they were already screwing him over long before we ever started to @ them on Twitter. And this whole solo launch was designed against him from the start. Keeping silent seems to me to just be playing into their game. It’s like the whole ‘let’s ignore the stunts because if we don’t give them attention they’ll stop’—they don’t. Their plan is personal and professional destruction. There’s no deviating from that, whether we acknowledge it publicly or not.

And their bitterness will remain, because they have failed to drive off all of Louis’ fans, leaving him with antis and beard stans who don’t care about him or his career and whose support is dependent on the stunts. And the call outs might be annoying, but they don’t really make much of a difference to them, do they? Russell Eslamifar was nominated for an Artist & Manager Award, and Simon Jones PR won Media Organization of the Year at the Diversity in Media awards. So. You can see this is having no effect on their careers. They hold the power, and they are on the side of the ones calling the shots in the industry.

Louis appears to have next to no one on his side. He has himself and he has us. And over the years and to this day, Louis continues speaking up as he can. If we fall silent… who’s left to speak up for him?

Also, I’m remembering now that BBCR1 interview in BTY promo when Nick mentioned fans had been asking for no personal questions, and Louis’ response was very positive.

And, I mean, think of how BBC has been apparently deleting tweets because they don’t want evidence of them ignoring all the requests for Miss You? Or how Ash London deleted the tweet that got all the replies calling her out for that introduction—and it wasn’t all abuse and death threats. Because people don’t like having evidence of their misdeeds out there, do they?

So, while, yes, maybe not all that useful, it’s a record, for what it counts. You could argue requests are also not that useful if radio stations aren’t serviced with a song or the song is blacklisted. And yet we persevere, because it’s all we can do.

I do agree that the priority should be buying, streaming, requesting, voting, etc., and I’m not saying people need to do it, just that they may as well do it if they want to. That’s just my opinion at this juncture.

Really isn't your argument kind of like saying - it cant be murder, though there's a knife sticking out of the corpse, because I cant think of a motive thats reasonable to me? I hope that doesnt sound rude! But Louis low status stunt-promoting campaign is not aimed at selling his song in any effective way. And in the UK, no radio push/spend by the label. Contrast his team's imaginative promo building Pretty Much & JA. Isn't it odd to you that they become incompetent only when it comes to Louis?

You say this like his song didn’t chart at all and he wasn’t doing ANY decent promo whatsoever.

I just have yet to see anyone present to me a reasonable, logical, fact based argument for sabotage that has compelled me to agree.  

And considering all of the comments and asks about James Arthur not doing well?  I don’t particularly want to compare to prettymuch because they’re building from the ground up so it would be a completely different animal, but they’re not charting.  at all.  and i’ve literally said multiple times I don’t think it’s incompetence.  

I’m sorry, but just because you don’t like the promo he’s doing does not mean it’s a nefarious plan to destroy him.