Khalid is opening up about the moment he was outed on social media, describing the experience as “annoying as fuck.”
During a conversation with media host Scott Evans, the singer reflected on when his ex-partner, Hugo D Almonte, publicly shared details about his sexuality in a series of X posts last year.
“That shit was annoying as fuck, to put it bluntly,” Khalid said around the 33-minute mark. “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.”
“I didn’t want to write this long paragraph and be like, ‘Now I’m out,’” Khalid shared. “I was just like, I’m gonna tweet the gay flag. Like, whatever. I’m gay. Let’s move on.”
The singer explained that while he initially felt the urge to respond online, he eventually questioned why he needed to defend himself at all. “I wanted to defend myself, but then I thought, ‘What am I defending myself for or against?’” he said. “It’s not like I can tuck the gay back in the closet.”
On Nov. 4, Khalid revisited the topic during an appearance on the Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast, revealing he had originally planned to come out on his own terms before the situation unfolded.
“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 said. “That’s all you can do. Life doesn’t stop. And I’m for sure not gonna stop mine.”
Khalid also expressed how painful it was to have his vulnerability used against him, seemingly referring to his ex. “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,” he 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.”
Reflecting on the experience, Khalid admitted that coming out publicly on his own would’ve been complicated. “That has to just be introduced,” he explained. “And I didn’t want to put in the effort to showcase my sexuality as much as I wanted to put in the effort to making my music, crafting my music.”
