During an appearance on the Zach Sang Show, singer-songwriter Khalid opened up about embracing his sexuality after being outed by his ex-boyfriend, Hugo D Almonte.
At the start of the conversation, Sang noted that Khalid’s last visit to the show was in 2017, back when he wasn’t publicly out. “Life is all about ebbs and flows,” Khalid said. “Maybe the version of myself that I came into nine years ago was that authentic version of myself… As time goes on, I realize I’m not just some new kid on the block anymore. I start to sit back, like, ‘What becomes new and exciting for me?’ What’s new and exciting is allowing myself to finally be open, because I feel like my privacy was weaponized against me on a global public scale, which only makes me want to be more open.”
He was referring to when Almonte outed him on social media last year. After the post, Khalid confirmed his sexuality in a tweet with a rainbow flag, writing, “There y’all go. Next topic please.”
Reflecting on the situation, Khalid admitted to feeling blindsided. “When it happened, it was random as fuck,” he said. “When you’re like half a decade removed from a situation with someone and it comes back the way that it did, it’s just confusing. … I was a little distraught, a little confused when it happened.”
Khalid said he now sees the experience as a chance to reclaim his narrative. “I’m going to turn everything that’s weaponized against me and use it for my own ammunition,” he explained. “I feel like there’s a group of people in this world that feel like being gay is a really bad thing. And I’m like, to say that being myself is bad would be limiting myself from having so much fucking fun.”
When asked if he had planned to come out, Khalid revealed that his upcoming album After the Sun Goes Down—which includes lyrics about his sexuality—was already in progress before the incident. “I knew that I wanted it to be upbeat, and to me, upbeat music just feels like liberation and freedom,” he shared. “I intended on being completely honest, and it’s unfortunate that someone got to expose something so personal to me. But maybe it sped up the process.”
