Shawn Mendes shares the “real truth” in response to the ongoing discourse about his sexuality. As the “Treat You Better” singer performed his latest song “The Mountain” during a Monday night concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, he revealed that he wrote the song to directly address the ongoing “scary” mood. Speculation. According to videos shared by fans on social media, Mendes pushed back on years of pressure to define his sexuality, telling the crowd that he was just “figuring it out like everyone else.”

The “Señorita” singer initially wowed the audience when he sang some cryptic lyrics from his latest single, telling the audience, “I changed my mind / You can say what you gotta say / 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. / But I’ve never been better. / So call it whatever you want.”

After the acoustic performance, Mendes spoke to his fans and became vulnerable to starting rumors about his sexuality when he was still a teenage pop star just starting out in the music industry.

“I was still very young when I started. I was 15 years old,” the now 26-year-old star said after admitting that he had been debating whether or not to talk about his sexuality that night. “The truth is that as a 15-year-old I didn’t get to do a lot of the things and explore parts of myself that you do when you’re 15.”

“There’s been this thing about my sexuality since I was really young and people have been talking about it for so long,” he told the crowd, calling the speculation “such an intrusion.”

He added, “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.” He shared that writing “The Mountain” was a way for him to reclaim his power over the issue, calling it “a moment when I was able to address it in a way that mattered to me.”

Mendes then opened up about his own sexuality, sharing, “The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that I’m just figuring it out like everyone else. Sometimes I don’t really know, sometimes I do. It feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about it. I try to be really brave and just allow myself to be human and feel things.”

The star, who has been linked to Camila Cabello and Sabrina Carpenter, had previously spoken out about the “hurtful” rumors and also opened up about them Rolling Stone In a November 2018 interview, she said: “I feel like I need to be seen in public with someone – like a girl – to prove to people that I’m not gay.” Even if in my heart I am know it’s not a bad thing.”