Shawn Mendes. Theo Wargo/Getty Pictures
Shawn Mendes is aware of that there’s intense curiosity about his personal life — together with his sexuality.
Since turning into a music famous person round 2013 at age 14, rumors have swirled about his sexual orientation. Mendes — whose celeb exes embody Camila Cabello and Sabrina Carpenter — declared beforehand that he was not homosexual. He later confessed that he felt the necessity to shut down the rumors by being public along with his love life.
“At the back of my coronary heart, I really feel like I must go be seen with somebody — like a woman — in public, to show to those who I’m not homosexual,” he advised Rolling Stone in 2018. “Though in my coronary heart I do know that it’s not a nasty factor. There’s nonetheless a bit of me that thinks that. And I hate that aspect of me.”
The dialogue across the subject developed over time, and in October 2024 he publicly shared that he was making an attempt to determine his sexuality.
“The actual reality about my life and my sexuality is, man, I’m simply figuring it out like everybody. I don’t actually know typically and I do know different occasions,” the singer mentioned at a live performance, per fan footage posted on social media on the time. “It feels actually scary as a result of we reside in a society that has quite a bit to say about that. I’m making an attempt to be actually courageous and simply permit myself to simply be human and really feel issues. That’s all I wanna say about that for now.”
Hold scrolling to see all the things Mendes has mentioned about his sexuality by means of the years:
Addressing Hypothesis
Mendes addressed his sexuality for the primary time in 2016.
“So I don’t normally do that and convey up issues, however I used to be on YouTube simply watching a few of my interviews, and I used to be happening the feedback and observed lots of people had been saying that I gave them a ‘homosexual vibe.’ To start with, I’m not homosexual,” he mentioned in a sequence of movies. “Second of all, it shouldn’t make a distinction if I used to be or if I wasn’t. The main target must be on the music and never my sexuality.”
The “Stitches” singer inspired followers to not make assumptions about an individual primarily based on their mannerisms. He added that whereas he’s attracted to women, he didn’t care if individuals referred to him as homosexual — until it was directed as an insult.
“I’m pissed off as a result of nowadays, individuals have the audacity to jot down on-line that I’m homosexual as if it had been a nasty factor. That’s all I actually must say about that,” Mendes shared. “I simply want these one % of individuals would develop up. I like you guys.”
Not Understanding the Curiosity
Mendes shared that he didn’t get why so many individuals had been involved in regards to the thought of his sexuality.
“I believed, ‘You f—ing guys are so fortunate I’m not truly homosexual and scared of popping out.’ That’s one thing that kills individuals,” he mentioned to Rolling Stone in 2018. “That’s how delicate it’s. Do you just like the songs? Do you want me? Who cares if I’m homosexual?”
Getting Pissed off
The “Deal with You Higher” musician opened up in regards to the toll it took on him to cope with the rumors about his sexuality.
“Everybody’s been calling me homosexual since I used to be 15 years outdated. I’m not homosexual and I’m like, ‘What does that imply?’ I had these issues with the best way my voice sounded,” he mentioned throughout an episode of the “Armchair Knowledgeable” podcast in December 2020. “I’m like, ‘How do I sit?’ I’m all the time first to cross my legs and sit with a place of this female model and I actually suffered with that s—. I feel plenty of guys undergo that and, even worse than that, there are such a lot of guys who’re homosexual and within the closet and should be listening to s— like that and being like, ‘I’m terrified to come back out.’”
Mendes shared that the hypothesis about him made him really feel upset particularly for the LGBTQIA+ individuals in his life who had been struggling to come back out of the closet.
“There have been some individuals in my life that I used to be very, very near who had been homosexual and within the closet. And I felt this actual anger for these individuals,” he continued. “It’s such a difficult factor. You need to say, ‘I’m not homosexual but it surely’d be positive if I used to be homosexual — but additionally there’s nothing improper with being homosexual however I’m not.’ You don’t actually understand how to answer the scenario.”
Placing it in Track
Mendes dropped a teaser of a brand new music titled “The Mountain” at an October 2024 live performance and the lyrics weighed in on his private life.
“Some days, I’ve a change of coronary heart / You may say what it’s essential say / You may say I’m too younger / You may say I’m too outdated / You may say I like ladies or boys / No matter matches your mould,” he sang to the group in line with social media footage.
Questioning Himself
Whereas on stage at an intimate live performance at Pink Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, Mendes, 26 on the time, spoke to the group letting them know that he was “figuring” out his sexuality identical to everybody else.
“I feel it’s form of foolish as a result of I feel sexuality is a fantastically complicated factor and it’s so onerous to simply put into bins,” he mentioned. “It all the time felt like such an intrusion on one thing very private to me. One thing I used to be determining in myself. One thing I had but to find and nonetheless have but to find.”
