Khalid recently opened up about the experience of being outed as gay on social media, describing it as “annoying as fuck.” In an interview with media personality Scott Evans, the singer reflected on when his former partner, Hugo D Almonte, revealed Khalid’s sexuality in a series of posts on X last year.
“That shit was annoying as fuck, to put it bluntly,” Khalid shared around the 33-minute mark of the interview. “That was very annoying because that’s not where I live my own life — for a situation to be five years in the past to be brought up on a public platform where you have to defend yourself against word of mouth. I really wanted to prove my stance and then eventually I was like, I don’t give a fuck.”
Khalid went on to explain how he chose to handle the situation online. “I didn’t want to write this long paragraph and be like, ‘Now I’m out,’” he said. “I was just like, I’m gonna tweet the gay flag. Like, whatever. I’m gay. Let’s move on.”
He further discussed feeling the need to address the outing on social media. “I wanted to defend myself, but then I thought, ‘What am I defending myself for or against?’” Khalid said. “It’s not like I can tuck the gay back in the closet.”
On November 4, Khalid also spoke about being outed on the *Baby, This Is Keke Palmer* podcast, sharing his intention to reveal his sexuality on his own terms before it happened.
“The thing is, it’s like once it happens, you can’t turn back. You can’t turn around. You can’t just like sweep it under the rug and be like, ‘Alright, nobody saw that.’ So you have to deal with it,” he explained. “That’s all you can do. Life doesn’t stop. And I’m for sure not gonna stop mine.”
Khalid expressed his disappointment that some people, possibly referring to his ex, “weaponized” his vulnerability.
“It’s very hurtful. But when I know that what I put out is meant to be genuine, I can’t be mad at myself for not having the knowledge. I can’t be mad at myself for not having the tools. I can’t be mad at myself that I might have stayed so long,” Khalid said.
“I can’t be mad at myself that I might have said, ‘Hey,’ and might have said, ‘Oh, you’re cute. Do you want to go on a date to the park?’ ’Cause it was honest and it was truthful.”
https://www.complex.com/music/a/treyalston/khalid-outed-annoying