Khalid says he was ‘a little distraught’ and confused when ex outed his sexuality

It’s been nearly a year since Khalid‘s ex-boyfriend Hugo D Almonte outed his sexuality on social media, and the singer is opening up about how he felt when it happened.

“I feel like, when it happened, it was random as f***,” he said during his appearance on the Zach Sang Show. “When you’re like half a decade removed from a situation from 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.”

Despite Almonte’s apparent intention to upset him, Khalid shares he’s making the situation work in his favor.

“I’m going to turn everything that’s weaponized against me and use it for my own ammunition,” he said. “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 f****** fun.”

Khalid adds that having his privacy “weaponized against me on a global public scale” has only made him “want to be more open,” hence the lyrics about his sexuality on his new album, After the Sun Goes Down.

“I knew that I wanted it to be upbeat, and to me, upbeat music just feels like liberation and freedom,” he shared of the project, noting it was in the works before he got outed.

Asked whether he planned on coming out before the incident, Khalid answered, “I intended on being completely honest.”

He added, “It’s unfortunate that someone got to expose something so personal to me, but maybe it sped up the process.”

After the Sun Goes Down is now available on streaming services.

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