Shawn Mendes Reacts to Speculation About His Sexuality: ‘Trying to Be Really Brave’

Shawn Mendes addressed speculation on his sexuality during a recent performance of some of his new music in Colorado.

The singer is dropping his fifth studio album on Nov. 15 and unveiled a new song from the project during the concert that explores the subjects of sexuality and public scrutiny.

"Since I was really young, there's been this thing about my sexuality," Mendes said on stage as he strummed his guitar.

"I think it's kinda silly because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing and it's so hard to just put into boxes," he continued.

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"It always felt like such a[n] 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," he said.

He called the creation of the song "important" because it allowed him to address the rampant rumors in a way that was "close to his heart."

"I'm just speaking freely now because I just wanna be able to be closer to everyone and just kind of be in my truth," the "Why Why Why" singer went on.

"The real truth about my life and sexuality is that, man I’m just figuring it out like everyone. I don’t really know sometimes and I know other times. It feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that," he declared.

"I'm trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. That's all I really wanna say about that," he concluded.

Clips of Mendes' speech quickly went viral on social media with many fans coming to his defense.

"This was so beautifully said but I’m so upset. y’all have bullied Shawn Mendes for a decade and it seems y'all have forced him out the closet almost. Constant speculation on someone’s sexuality is so weird and invasive I’ll never understand the obsession," one fan tweeted.

"Y’all literally bullied Shawn Mendes into questioning publicly his sexuality.. I hate society," another fan agreed.

"Monstrous lack of compassion for Shawn Mendes from people who should know better than anyone how excruciating it is to navigate questions about your own desires in a climate of intense suspicion, shame and pressure," someone else wrote in a tweet.