Shawn Mendes says gay rumours gave him ‘problems’ with the way his voice sounded
"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***"
Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Island
Shawn Mendes had once again discussed years-long rumours around his sexuality – while wisely pointing out the damage such speculation does to a person, and the LGBTQ community.
He explained how the rumours gave him “problems with the way my voice sounded” and how he sat, adding that he “didn’t grow up wrestling” but instead “grew up getting my hair braided on New Year’s Eve” with his female cousins.
The ‘Stitches’ singer also addressed the subject in an interview with The Guardian last week, calling the speculation “ignorant and insensitive.”
Shawn, who recently released his fourth studio album Wonder, is in a relationship with ‘Havana’ singer Camilla Cabello.
“I really suffered”
On episode 275 of Dax Shephard’s Armchair Expert podcast, shared this week, Shawn tells the actor: “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.
“And I felt like this real anger for those people. It’s such a tricky thing. 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.
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“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 fucking messy and say the wrong things and apologize and say the right thing after I apologizs and be confused about how to respond when people say I’m gay.
“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. 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 shit.”
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“[…] I think a lot of guys go through that and even worse than that. There are just so many guys who are gay and in the closet and must be hearing shit like that and just being like, ‘I’m terrified to come out.'”
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