Yungblud posted a series of suggestive images to Instagram on Sunday that prompted discussion among followers, sharing shirtless snaps and intimate moments he captioned, "The road with my best friends." Some fans said the photos showed more than first appeared, including exposed pubic hair in several images.
The 28-year-old, whose real name is Dominic Harrison, uploaded a photodump that included shots of him wrapped in a towel, in low-slung jeans and shirtless, as well as a black-and-white image in which a cigarette appeared tucked into his underwear. Other frames showed him licking a friend's head and posing with his on-again, off-again girlfriend Jesse Jo Stark.
The post followed a high-profile appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards a week earlier, where Yungblud joined Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on stage. At the ceremony he drew attention for making faces and flashing his armpits in photographs with the veteran rockers, and later posed for unconventional backstage images at the UBS Arena. He performed an Ozzy Osbourne tribute at the event and arrived on the red carpet wearing a black leather sherpa jacket; during parts of the evening he appeared shirtless beneath black leather pants and boots, accessorized with gunmetal jewelry.
Yungblud had a close relationship with Ozzy Osbourne after meeting the rock star in 2022. Osbourne died on July 22 at age 76. Yungblud has said he considered their bond akin to a father-son relationship; he reportedly gave a reading at Osbourne's funeral and performed at the farewell concert at Villa Park in Birmingham in June as the musician's health declined.
Speaking to The Times about Osbourne's death, Yungblud said learning of it while cut off on an island recording new music felt "overwhelming." He said, "I told a friend that I thought Ozzy had another five albums in him. And then he did the show and then he died. It's so overwhelming," and added that Osbourne "taught me self-belief." He has described carrying Osbourne's spirit forward in his own work.
The Instagram photodump drew a mixture of reactions on social media, with some followers noting the provocative content and others defending the singer's self-expression. Yungblud has previously cultivated a public persona that blends theatricality and vulnerability, and his recent posts and VMA appearances continue to attract attention from fans and the music press.