Singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes, 26, opened up about his “complex” sexuality during a concert this week, amid rumours surrounding his personal life in a song from his upcoming album.
The Canadian star has been previewing tracks from the album, set to release on November 15, at recent gigs including The Mountain, which alludes to ongoing speculation about his sexuality according to reports in the Mirror.
Fan footage from a Colorado gig on Monday, as reported by The Sun, shows Shawn discussing these issues before performing the song.
He reminisces about entering the music industry at 15 and not having the same opportunities to explore aspects of himself as others around him did.
He’s heard saying: “Since I was really young, there’s this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it for so long. I think it’s kind of silly, because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it’s so hard to just put into boxes. It always felt like [it’s] such intrusion on something very personal to me. Something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover.”
Shawn expressed his feelings about his personal journey with sexuality, saying: “The truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone. And I don’t really know sometimes and I know other times. And it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that. And I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things.”
He also touched on the topic through his music, with lyrics from one of his songs stating: “You can say what you need to say. You can say I’m too young, say I’m too old, you can say I like girls or boys, whatever fits your mould. You can say I’m a dreamer, you can say I’m too far gone, but I’ve never been better so call it what you want.”
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Over the years, Shawn, who has been linked with stars Camila Cabello and Sabrina Carpenter, has seen considerable speculation over his private life.
Addressing these issues in 2020 with the Guardian, he labelled the chatter about his sexual orientation as “ignorant and insensitive”.
Back in 2016, he addressed the comments directly on Snapchat after noticing viewers’ remarks on his interviews, as US Weekly reported: “I don’t usually do this and bring up problems, but I was on YouTube just watching some of my interviews, and I was going down the comments and noticed a lot of people were saying that I gave them a ‘gay vibe.’ First of all, I’m not gay. Second of all, it shouldn’t make a difference if I was or if I wasn’t. The focus should be on the music and not my sexuality.”
The Brit Award nominee expressed to Rolling Stone magazine that he had reached his limit during the video shoot. He declared to the publication: “I thought, ‘You f***ing guys are so lucky I’m not actually gay and terrified of coming out’. That’s something that kills people.” He went on to question the importance of his sexuality: “Who cares if I’m gay?”
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