Shawn Mendes opens up about his sexuality: 'I'm figuring it out like everyone'
Shawn Mendes opened up about his sexuality, saying he's still "figuring it out."
In a video shared by a fan on X, the Treat You Better singer took a break mid-performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Oct. 28 to share his sentiments about his sexuality. This came before he sang an unreleased track which is said to be inspired about his sexual orientation.
“Since I was really young, there’s been this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it for so long,” he said.
He also said that “it’s kind of silly” given that sexuality is such a “beautiful complex thing” that cannot be easily labeled.
The singer then called such speculation "intrusive."
“It always felt like such an 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 shared that he hasn’t had the freedom to explore his sexuality without being scrutinized.
“The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m figuring it out like everyone,” he told the audience. “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.”
According to the singer, writing his new song The Mountain is important to him because he felt like a moment he could address his sexuality in a way "close to [his] heart."
Shawn first gained fame on social media, especially through Vine, where he began sharing six-second song covers in 2013. He later became known for hits like Stitches, Señorita, and Mercy.