Khalid owns coming out as gay after he alleges he was outed: ‘I was never hiding’
For R&B singer Khalid, a recent revelation about his sexuality shouldn’t be an earth-shattering event.
In a series of tweets shared Friday, the Grammy-nominated “Location” hitmaker downplayed coming out as gay after he claims someone beat him to the punch and he “got outted.” After confirming his sexuality, Khalid wrote, “the world still continues to turn.”
“I am not ashamed of my sexuality!” he added, before reminding his followers on X (formerly Twitter) that his sexuality “ain’t [nobody’s] business!”
Inside a trendy Fairfax District sneaker store on a busy afternoon, Khalid is scanning the room looking for a pair that catches his eye.
In an earlier post shared Friday, Khalid tweeted a pride flag emoji with the text “there yall go. next topic please lol.” In another tweet, the 26-year-old singer responded to a fan, writing, “I am [gay]! And that’s okay.”
The “Young Dumb & Broke” musician publicly came out shortly after another singer wrote about his alleged personal relationship with Khalid in since-deleted tweets. Singer Hugo Almonte reportedly shared a photo of himself with Khalid and alleged that the “American Teen” artist “lied and said that I broke into his house,” according to Rolling Stone.
In a statement to the magazine, Almonte said he did not intend to out anyone but rather sought “to share my story and share how he tried to use his power to silence me because I simply ended our relationship.” Almonte, who did not name Khalid, also alleged he has faced death threats and denied he was “chasing clout” with his tweets about the singer.
After his coming-out tweets, Khalid responded to fans on X who said they previously suspected he was gay. One user wrote that “the closet was glass” and another user tweeted clips of Khalid dancing in the music video for his 2022 song “Satellite,” which they dubbed an “LGBTQ anthem.”
“I was never hiding,” he replied to the latter.
After his series of tweets Friday, Khalid voiced gratitude for fans who showed him love. He also said he might temporarily place music plans on hold, writing that he doesn’t “want anyone thinking I’m capitalizing off of this s—.”
Khalid, born Khalid Robinson, broke out in 2017 with his soulful single “Location” and has since released four albums including his latest, “Sincere.” He has also gone on to collaborate with Shawn Mendes, H.E.R. and Billie Eilish (who claimed last year she was also outed), among other artists.
Billie Eilish called out Variety in an Instagram post for ‘outing me on a red carpet... instead of talking about anything else’ at its Hitmakers Brunch.
In a 2017 interview with The Times, Khalid — then 19 — spoke of finding his voice in music and songwriting. His debut album, “American Teen,” was meant to be a “real representation of who I am as a person,” he said at the time.
“I really wanted it to be very broad and eclectic because that’s who I am,” he added. “It hits at a lot of different boundaries.”
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