Khalid has come out as gay (Picture: Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Music star Khalid has come out as gay after being outed by another man.
The 26-year-old singer is known for tunes including Young Dumb & Broke and Better. He rose to fame in 2016 with the release of his debut single, Location, and has gone on to sell millions of records, having also been nominated for six Grammys.
Despite collaborating with high-profile artists such as Halsey and Benny Blanco, and having over 4.6million followers on X, Khalid is famously private when it comes to his romances.
However, the hitmaker felt compelled to address speculation about his sexuality this weekend after fellow artist Hugo D Almonte posted a picture of them together.
The Dominican American rapper and singer also divulged explicit details of an alleged sexual liaison between them.
Taking to social media amid the swirling rumours, Khalid posted a rainbow Pride flag emoji, adding: ‘there yall go. next topic please lol [sic]’.
The singer said he was ‘outed’ by another man (Picture: Daniel DeSlover/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)
Khalid shared a post with his 4.6million X followers (Picture: X)
The then responded to a fan who asked if he is gay, writing simply: ‘I am! And that’s okay’.
In a further post, Khalid insisted he is proud of who he is and how he identifies.
‘I got outted and the world still continues to turn. Let’s get this straight (lmao) I am not ashamed of my sexuality!’, he declared.
‘In reality it ain’t nobodies business! But I am okay with me’, Khalid added, signing off with: ‘love yall’.
Another fan jokingly told Khalid that the ‘closet was glass’, a phrase used to suggest that it was obvious he was part of the LGBTQ+ community.
‘I wasn’t hiding anything! It’s just not any of your business’, Khalid wrote back.
One follower also shared a clip of Khalid performing his 2022 track Satellite, branding it an ‘LGBTQ+ anthem’.
Khalid wrote sweetly: ‘thank you!!!! I was never hiding’.
Khalid insists he’s ‘not ashamed’ of who he is (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
He was praised for his nonchalant attitude towards sexuality (Picture: X)
The star was met with an outpouring of love after the emotional tweets, urging others to take note of his nonchalant attitude to sexuality.
User glossiertroye wrote: ‘in the big year of 2024 let’s maybe stop assuming people’s sexualities!!! & being weird. you tell em king’.
‘SO REAL. straight people don’t have to announce they’re straight so why should WE have to announce we’re queer????’, said itslitrllymine.
Apologising, takecarehours added lovingly: ‘but you should’ve been able to tell the world on your own time. i’m sorry people are clout chasers’.
Khalid also received support from queer British singer and producer MNEK, who slammed Almonte, branding him a ‘loser’.
In his original posts, the 28-year-old musician stunned his followers by sharing: ‘one of your favorite gay R&B singers suck my d**k and it was really bad.’
He also branded Khalid a ‘dumb a** singer’ who is ‘ugly as f**k’, claiming Khalid tried to ‘set [him] up’ by lying that he broke into his house after being ‘dumped’.
When asked for comment, Almonte defended himself, telling Vulture that his intentions were ‘never to out someone who’s clearly been out already in the community in Los Angeles’.
Hugo D Almonte shared explicit details of an alleged sexual liaison between himself and Khalid (Picture: Instagram)
Khalid burst onto the music scene while he was still a high school senior as he self-released his debut single.
Just one year later, he earned five Grammy noms after his debut album, American Teen, boasted songwriting credits for him on every track.
He’s also collaborated with artists in both the R&B genre and others, such as Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Normani, Ed Sheeran, and Marshmello.
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