Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo has come out as a ‘proudly gay man’ after ending his marriage of nearly 14 years to wife Fleur Shomo.
The 33-year-old addressed the speculation over his relationship in the wake of the release of his single Free in February.
In the music video, Shomo embraced a more gender fluid look, sporting a crop top, glitter and makeup. The change prompted homophobic comments online, including from Attila frontman Chris Fronzak, which he later deleted and apologised for.
The song was Shomo’s first new music since 2023, and he said it marked ‘the start of the next chapter of my music and my life’.
The Beartooth singer has now shared a lengthy statement to his 200,000 Instagram followers, in what is currently his only post to his account, detailing his struggle to accept his sexuality.
In a series of Notes app screenshots, Shomo began: ‘There’s been a lot of speculation surrounding my personal life as of late and I feel compelled to set the record straight before it affects those I love any further.
‘I am a proudly gay man.’
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The singer explained that he has been ‘unpacking and reckoning’ with his sexual identity for some time, describing it as ‘difficult to navigate’.
He went on to say: ‘I have always strived to chase who I am in the deepest part of my soul from album to album.’
Shomo’s statement touched on spending ‘a decade burying feelings with alcohol’, adding: ‘When I decided to put it down and focus on exploring why I felt this way for so long, it’s been a direct path to me reconciling with my sexuality in hopes that it will eventually lead to me experiencing self love.
‘One thing I decided before I wrote a single note of the upcoming album is that whatever happens, I will express myself whole heartedly and fully. Wherever it takes me I will follow and I refuse to water any part of it down, from the music, to the lyrical content, and way I portray myself.
‘I will only do what makes me happy at the deepest level and what is the most honest depiction of who I am. I believe it’s impossible to love every part of you when you won’t face every part of you head on. I am trying to finally be proud of who I am and I think this is a massive part of that journey.’
He went on to thank those who had shown him ‘empowerment through living life freely and openly in my presence, supporting the queer community, or simply telling me you love me whoever I am’.
‘Love you all,’ he concluded. ‘Hopefully this is a step in the right direction to loving myself one day.’
The Beartooth singer’s wife Fleur Shomo shared her own post shortly afterwards, which included a video of the pair dancing together, followed by a lengthy statement detailing the ‘disorientating and hurtful’ past few months, in which she said her own mental health has suffered.
‘To support him whilst losing everything has been incredibly hard to figure out, she wrote. ‘You can love and support your person through the hardest time in their life, whilst also be completely demolished and lose yourself at the same time.’
‘Nobody will know anything about our marriage like we do…I already miss it and my husband more than anything,’ she added. ‘Our story was a good one. And now it’s done.’
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