Here's What To Know About Harry Styles' Manager Bestie, Jeff Azoff
Photos of Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde holding hands made a huge splash on Twitter over the weekend of Jan. 1. Fans everywhere are freaking out over the potential new couple after seeing the photos, but one question remains for those looking into details about the event they were attending. Jeff Azoff and Glenne Christiaansen's Montecito wedding is where the photos were snapped. So, who Is Jeff Azoff? The agent is is a power player in the music industry and grew up the son of industry royalty, but he's also one of Styles' best buds.
While the pictures of Styles and Wilde holding hands sparked intense gossip online about the nature of their relationship, what fans should be freaking out over is the new role Styles just added to his multi-hyphenate resumé: wedding officiant. The 26-year-old actually officiated Azoff's wedding with a crowd of about 20 people in attendance. Styles might be used to much bigger crowds on tour, but he's usually singing, not declaring people husband and wife.
How did Styles get close enough to Azoff to become his wedding officiant? Well, Azoff started as Styles' agent in 2016, right before the former One Direction star embarked on his solo career and released his self-titled debut album. He wasn't yet the massive solo artistic force heis today. The pair evidently hit it off producing Styles' first solo endeavor, and they continued working together on Styles' many projects, including his Grammy-nominated 2019 record Fine Line. While some stans debated Azoff's involvement in Styles' projects over the years, with a controversy arising most recently over his social media usage (fans baselessly claimed Azoff limited Styles' engagement with fans), the two are actually closer than ever.
His Father Is Nicki Minaj's Manager
Azoff was no stranger to the music industry before he took on Styles as a client. His father, Irving Azoff, remains one of the most prolific managers in the industry nearly 60 years after he first started his career in artist management. In addition to working with an endless roster of household names over the years, he's also built acts from the ground up. Whether it's Nicki Minaj or the Eagles, Irving Azoff manages acts of only all-star quality.
Irving introduced his son to the industry at a young age, and Azoff learned exactly how to manage an A-list artist. "When the guy who coaches your soccer games is always on the phone making deals in the music business, you have the ability at a young age to sound like you know what you’re talking about, even if you might not," Azoff told Billboard in 2019.
He Has A Unique Relationship With Styles
A lot of artists these days find themselves locked in numerous personal and legal disputes with their managers and labels. Most recently, a public feud between Chance The Rapper and his former manager reignited critics' concerns over his debut studio album from summer 2019, and Kanye West isn’t exactly on great terms with his label, Sony, either.
Harry Styles and Jeff Azoff, on the other hand, have a unique relationship in that they get along quite well. "The great thing about Harry is, he has so many ideas and he’s the type of artist who knows exactly who he is," Azoff said in an interview with Music Week in 2019. "Most of the time, it doesn’t feel like work."
He's Not Very Active On Social Media
Despite knowing and working alongside an ever-growing list of celebs and moguls, Jeff Azoff is a pretty private dude. The newlywed agent has only ever made two posts on Instagram, and his Twitter is only filled with retweets of his favorite clients' work. He does happen to be a huge fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, however, and tweets about the 2020 World Series-winning baseball team every once and a while.
