Shawn Mendes Says He’s ‘Frustrated’ Over Gay Rumors — Everything He’s Said About His Sexuality
According to Shawn Mendes, he is so over people calling him gay. Yep, while chatting with Dax Shepard on his
Lillie Gissen
According to Shawn Mendes, he is so over people calling him gay. Yep, while chatting with Dax Shepard on his “Armchair Expert” podcast recently, the singer admitted that it was very “frustrating” for him when fans speculated about his sexuality online.
“It was so, so frustrating for me because there were some people in my life that I was very, very close to… who were gay and in the closet,” he admitted. “And I felt this real anger for those people. You want to say, ‘I’m not gay but it’d be fine if I was gay. But also, there’s nothing wrong with being gay but I’m not.’ You don’t really know how to respond to the situation.”
The “In My Blood” crooner explained that the rumors started when he was only 15 years old, and they were so intense that they even made him question himself.
“Everyone’s been calling me gay since I was 15 years old. I’m not gay and I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ I had these problems with the way my voice sounded,” he continued. “I’m like, ‘How do I sit?’ I’m always first to cross my legs and sit with a position of this feminine style and I really suffered with that s**t. I didn’t grow up wrestling. I grew up getting my hair braided on New Year’s Eve. It just completely depends on the way you grew up in your life and your surroundings.”
Mendes also reminded everyone that there’s no wrong or right way to respond to a rumor like that. He added, “I’ve realized that we just have to stop having to be experts and politicians about it, especially as a famous musician who’s a guy. I need to be really f**king messy and say the wrong things and apologize and say the right thing after I apologize and be confused about how to respond when people say I’m gay.”
However, the pop star also explained that people shouldn’t feel bad for him, since it’s much harder for those who are gay and can’t come out.
“I think a lot of guys go through that and, even worse than that, there are so many guys who are gay and in the closet and must be hearing s**t like that and being like, ‘I’m terrified to come out,’” he shared.
It turns out, this isn’t the only time that Mendes has spoken about his sexuality in an interview. We went ahead and rounded up everything he has ever said about it. Here’s all the times he’s addressed it in the past…
Shawn Mendes Previously Said The Rumors That He’s Gay Were ‘Ignorant And Insensitive’
“There was a desperation for me to come out as being gay, which is such a ridiculous thing,” Mendes told The Guardian in December 2020. “I got upset because I know people who are gay who haven’t come out and I know the suffering they experience because of that. It’s just completely ignorant and insensitive of people to be on that s**t.”
He also explained to the outlet in an April 2019 interview that the rumors didn’t just effect him, but that they also hurt “so many other people” in his life.
“For me, it’s hurtful. I get mad when people assume things about me because I imagine the people who don’t have the support system I have and how that must affect them,” he said. “That was why I was so angry, and you can see I still get riled up, because I don’t think people understand that when you come at me about something that’s stupid you hurt so many other people. They might not be speaking, but they’re listening.”
Shawn Mendes Previously Admitted That He Wanted To Date A Girl Just To End The Speculation About His Sexuality
As fans know, Mendes has been in a relationship with Camila Cabello for more than a year now. But before her, he was briefly linked to Hailey Baldwin. They were spotted holding hands in late 2017, and attended the Met Gala together in May 2018, but two months later, she got engaged to Justin Bieber — leaving many fans to wonder if their brief romance was even real. And while chatting with Rolling Stone Magazine a few months later, the musician didn’t mention Baldwin by name, but he did admit that he wanted to be seen with a girl just to end the speculation about his sexuality.
“In the back of my heart, I feel like I need to go be seen with someone — like a girl — in public, to prove to people that I’m not gay,” he explained. “Even though in my heart I know that it’s not a bad thing. There’s still a piece of me that thinks that. And I hate that side of me.”
Shawn Mendes Says He Is ‘A Little More Feminine’ Than Most Guys, And That’s OK
When Mendes opened up for Taylor Swift on her 1989 Tour in 2015, and the blonde beauty posted a snap of herself putting makeup on Mendes, it quickly added fuel to the fire that he was gay. And he later opened up about the picture to Rolling Stone, explaining that he regretted letting her share it online.
“I felt sick,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘F**k, why did I let her post that?’ I just fed the fire that I’m terrified of.”
The 22-year-old also explained how speaking about someone’s sexuality could effect their mental health. Mendes continued, “I thought, ‘You f**king guys are so lucky I’m not actually gay and terrified of coming out.’ That’s something that kills people. That’s how sensitive it is. Do you like the songs? Do you like me? Who cares if I’m gay? Maybe I am a little more feminine — but that’s the way it is. That’s why I am me.”
He addressed the rumors one other time back in 2016, in a Snapchat video that despite being taken down, has since been reposted by fans on YouTube.
“I noticed a lot of people were saying I gave them a ‘gay vibe,’” he said in the clip. “First of all, I’m not gay. Second of all, it shouldn’t make a difference if I was or wasn’t.”
Now, Shawn Mendes Is Happily Dating Camila Cabello
As fans know, after being best friends for years, Mendes and Cabello started dating in July 2019, and since then, they’ve been total couple goals!
“I think I’ve actually known him the longest out of anybody in the music industry — we’ve been in each other’s lives for like four or five years, and it’s been really beautiful to kinda grow up together. It’s actually a really beautiful feeling to know that this person is always going to be in my life, we’re always going to love each other,” the “Havana” songstress previously gushed to Clash Magazine about her beau. ”I feel like it’s so rare to meet someone in this industry and find a person of that quality, and I feel like Shawn is that person for me. I just trust him, and no matter the level of intensity that he has around his career or I have, he is just normal, and that is so rare and precious to find in this industry. To be able to hang out with someone and you don’t really care that they’re Shawn Mendes, you know what I mean? You’re just people, and that is definitely something that is rare.”