Shawn Mendes says he's “figuring out” his sexuality

Shawn Mendes addresses speculation about his sexuality, saying it “feels like an intervention” because he's “just figuring it out like everyone else.”

The 26-year-old singer-songwriter spoke on the topic before performing unreleased track “The Mountain” during a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado on Monday night. According to fan footage of the song, “The Mountain” appears to be inspired by rumors about Mendes' sexuality. “You can say I'm too young/You can say I'm too old/You can say I like girls or boys/Whatever suits you,” he sings.

“There's been this thing about my sexuality since I was really young and people have been talking about it for so long,” Mendes said in a fan-recorded video. “And I think it's kind of silly because I think sexuality is such a beautiful, complex thing and it's so hard to just put it in boxes.”

Mendes continued that the speculation “always felt like an intrusion into something very personal to me, something I was figuring out within myself, something I hadn't yet discovered and still have yet to discover.”

About “The Mountain,” Mendes said that “writing this song was really important to me because it felt like a moment where I could address it in a way that was close to my heart.”

He added: “The real truth about my life and my sexuality is, man, I'm just figuring it out like everyone else, and sometimes I don't really know, and sometimes I do.” And it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that, and I'm trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be human and feel things.”

Mendes had already addressed the speculation in 2016 when he was 17 years old. In a video posted on Snapchat, he said: “First of all, I’m not gay. Secondly, it shouldn't make any difference whether it was me or not. The focus should be on the music and not on my sexuality.”

Mendes' new album “Shawn” is scheduled for release on November 15th.