Shawn Mendes mentioned that he’s “determining” his sexuality throughout his live performance in Denver on Monday, in line with video footage shared by followers on social media.

The singer mentioned that he had been unable to “uncover” sure elements of himself as a result of he started working at such a younger age.

“I feel it’s type of foolish as a result of I feel sexuality is such a fantastically advanced factor and its so laborious to simply put into packing containers,” he mentioned throughout his present, which occurred at Purple Rocks Amphitheatre. “And it at all times felt like such an intrusion on one thing very private to me.”

Representatives for Mendes didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Tuesday.

Mendes made the remarks earlier than performing his unreleased tune “The Mountain,” which options lyrics referencing the hypothesis over his sexuality.

He mentioned in the course of the live performance that the tune was his approach of addressing it “in a approach that felt near my coronary heart.”

“The true fact about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m simply figuring it out like everybody and I don’t actually know typically and I do know different instances,” he mentioned.

His feedback spurred dialogue on-line about how followers focus on artists’ and celebrities’ sexualities. Many followers on-line mentioned they really feel that the general public will not be entitled to know in regards to the non-public lives of celebrities. Different mentioned individuals mustn’t power anybody to label themselves.

Mendes dated fellow pop star Camila Cabello in an on-again, off-again yearslong relationship. Whereas he recognized as straight, rumors have swirled on-line about his sexuality for years. He beforehand described the gossip surrounding his sexuality as “irritating.”

“You need to say, ‘I’m not homosexual however it’d be nice if I used to be homosexual — but additionally there’s nothing flawed with being homosexual however I’m not.’ You don’t actually know the way to reply to the state of affairs,” he mentioned in an interview on Dax Shepard’s podcast, “Armchair Skilled,” in 2020.

In current days, social media customers had renewed hypothesis about Mendes’ sexual orientation after a video of him was posted by Interview Journal. In it, the pop star is seen sharing his telephone screenshots.

Throughout Monday’s present, Mendes mentioned that it feels scary to open up about his journey due to how individuals speak about others’ sexuality. He mentioned that he was attempting to permit himself to “be a human and really feel issues.”