The ‘woke’ Gen Z followers who hound their idols into popping out: Shawn Mendes is the most recent star compelled to deal with rumours that he is homosexual after years of ‘pestering and harassment’

The love lives of celebrities are, more often than not, bound to end up in the public eye – but Gen Z are being accused of ‘pestering’ and ‘harassing’ famous people into discussing their sexuality following singer Shawn Mendes‘s candid address about his ‘truth’.

Last week the Canadian musician, 26, spoke to the crowd during one intimate moment of his For Friends and Family Tour show, and addressed his love life.

Telling his fans he was trying to be ‘really brave’, the singer — who famously dated Camila Cabello — revealed he was still ‘figuring it out.’

‘There’s this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it so long,’ he added, saying it was ‘kind of silly, because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it’s so hard to just put into boxes.’

‘The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone.’ 

‘It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me. Something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover it.’ 

‘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 a human and feel things. And that’s all I really want to say about that for now.’

Shawn also shared: ‘I was really young when I started. I was 15 years old. The truth is that I didn’t get to do a lot of 15-year-old things and discover parts of myself that you do at 15.’ 

The artist sings about his sexuality on his new song, The Mountain. He made the remarks while introducing the song at the show. 

The lyrics to the song include the line: ‘You can say I’m too young/You can say I’m too old/You can say I like girls or boys, whatever fits your mold.’

Since Shawn’s speech, many have taken to social media to express their concerns that artists are being pressured into ‘coming out’ or publicly deconstructing their sexualities while not having all the answers themselves.

One remarked that the singer has been ‘pressured and bullied for years, even before he was 18, to talk about his sexuality’. 

Another added: ‘Can we normalise not prying on people’s sexuality?’

In other instances, incessant prodding about people’s romantic preferences has seen actors like Heartstopper’s Kit Connor – whose character on the hit show is bisexual – to feel ‘forced’ to address their identity.

Elsewhere, entire New York Times op-ed pieces have been written in attempt to question whether Taylor Swift is gay, prompting her to seemingly hit back at prying eyes in the liner notes of her 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album, which read: ‘If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalise or sexualise that—right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.’

Here, FEMAIL looks at stars who have been pressured to discuss their personal romantic preferences at the behest of demanding online audiences…

KIT CONNOR 

In a 2022, Heartstopper breakout star Kit, 20, received support from fans after publicly revealing he’s bisexual, saying he was ‘forced’ to do so.

The then 18-year-old actor, who stars as Nick Nelson in the LGBTQI+ series, took to X to reveal the news in a brief tweet, despite having previously spoken about not wanting to label his sexuality publicly.

While it is not confirmed what prompted Kit to come forward, it has been speculated that the star felt pressured following ‘queerbaiting’ accusations after he was pictured holding hands with actress Maia Reficco, who he stars in A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow with.

He wrote: ‘Back for a minute. I’m bi. Congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye.’

An urban dictionary definition of the phenomenon describes it as ‘a marketing technique used to attract queer viewers that involves creating romantic or sexual tension between two same-sex characters but never making it canon or evolving on it’.

Despite many – especially since Kit’s coming out post – slamming applying the term outside media discussions, the website also suggests there is a real-life implication to queerbaiting, adding that it can happen when ‘straight men or women pretend to be gay and flirt with people of the same sex as a joke’.

However, most reports on this which regard real people have focused on celebrities or influencers nodding to an LGBT + audience despite themselves not publicly identifying as part of the community, or having said they’re heterosexual.

Social media appears torn on an exact limit of the definition as well, and is often dependent on the context of what is being discussion.

In light of Kit’s announcement, one user tweeted: ‘Queerbaiting isn’t something real people can even do in real life. What you’re calling “queerbaiting” is closeted people testing the waters, and dragging them out of the closet isn’t ok. 

‘Queerbaiting is showrunners stringing along queer viewers, not queer actors being closeted.’

BILLIE EILISH 

Elsewhere, 22-year-old Billie Eilish – who ended up accidentally confirming that she is ‘queer’ in a Variety interview last year and later spoke to Rolling Stone about realising she ‘wanted her face in a vagina’ – has recently expressed frustrations that her sexuality has been in the public eye for so long.

‘I wish no one knew anything about my sexuality or anything about my dating life. Ever, ever,’ she told Vogue last month. ‘And I hope that they never will again. And I’m never talking about my sexuality ever again. And I’m never talking about who I’m dating ever again.’ 

It came after years of speculation about the star’s preference, leading her to, after the Variety event telling Instagram: ‘i like boys and girls leave me alone about it, please literally who cares.’ She later told the outlet she didn’t ‘mean’ to really ‘come out’.

‘But I kind of thought, “Wasn’t it obvious?”,’ she expressed. ‘I didn’t realize people didn’t know. I just don’t really believe in it. I’m just like, “Why can’t we just exist?” I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.’

Billie has faced speculation into her sexuality since she was a teenager. In 2021, she was accused of queerbaiting by confused followers after she shared a slew of behind-the-scenes snaps from her Lost Cause music video.

In the images the singer frolicked around with her female friends at a party, with the caption ‘I love girls’.

The then-teenager came under fire in the comments with some of her fans questioning her actions.

A TikTok user with the handle Wap.Lover uploaded a message in which she penned: ‘Acting sexual with girls to draw in more audience is gross.’

While some had suggested Billie might be coming out in the post, with others praising the video – a few felt uneasy.

One fan wrote: ‘Funny she is posting this in June, pride month. Bestie you better not be queer baiting.’

Another added: ‘Bye I literally cannot. It’s like if she’s coming out good for her but if she claims to be straight after this, bestie it’s queer baiting sorry…’ 

A third put: ‘I really hope this isn’t queer baiting’. 

In a later interview with Elle, Billie hit out at accusers for speculating about her sexuality so forensically. 

‘Like, oh yeah, that’s everyone else’s business, right? No,’ she said, in reference to her sexuality. ‘Where’s that energy with men?’ 

TAYLOR SWIFT 

Earlier this year, the New York Times faced backlash from Taylor‘s inner circle and fans who claimed their opinion piece questioning the popstar’s sexuality is ‘sexist’.

Anna Marks’s essay for publication suggested that Taylor could be hiding her sexuality from the world because of her ‘affinity for queer identity.’

‘This article wouldn’t have been allowed to be written about Shawn Mendes or any male artist whose sexuality has been questioned by fans,’ a source close to the situation told CNN. 

The New York Times became the target of the wrath of Swifties, as well as the singer’s personal pals. ‘I’ve learned that they are not pleased to say the least,’ Oliver Darcy told CNN of the drama.

Despite claims that the article wouldn’t have been written about a male – Anna Marks wrote an opinion piece in 2022 of a similar nature titled ‘Harry Styles Walks a Fine Line’ which was also published in The New York Times. 

The piece discussed how Harry ‘used queerness to burnish his celebrity without explicitly claiming to be queer.’ 

‘There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is — all under the protective veil of an “opinion piece,”‘ the person further declared about Marks’ Swift opinion piece. 

The piece titled, ‘Look What We Made Taylor Swift Do,’ by one of the paper’s Opinion editors, looks at lyrics from the Lover artist’s body of work, which she believes could Sapphic love. 

‘Anyone considering the whole of Ms. Swift’s artistry — the way that her brilliantly calculated celebrity mixes with her soul-baring art — can find discrepancies between the story that underpins her celebrity and the one captured by her songs.’ the author wrote.

Marks cited examples from her appearance, including wearing hair colors from the bisexual pride flag, or rainbow dresses.

She also hints a so-called Easter eggs in the lyrics, in which refer to being in ‘glass closets’ in Willow or paying homage to lesbian artist Louie Fuller during her Reputation tour. 

‘In isolation, a single dropped hairpin is perhaps meaningless or accidental, but considered together, they’re the unfurling of a ballerina bun after a long performance,’ the editor wrote.

‘Those dropped hairpins began to appear in Ms. Swift’s artistry long before queer identity was undeniably marketable to mainstream America. They suggest to queer people that she is one of us.’ 

Taylor has explained her pro-LGTBQ stance as advocacy, explaining to Vogue in 2019, ‘Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male,’ she said at the time. 

‘I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of.’

In the prologue to her 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album, which was released in October, the Out of the Woods singer, who is currently dating NFL star Travis Kelce, wrote, she surrounded herself with female friends because she was tired of the speculation about her romantic liaisons with men.

‘If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalise or sexualise that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.’

It is often thought to be a possible allusion to the singer’s former friendship with model Karlie Kloss, which some have suggested could have been romantic.

JAMEELA JAMIL 

Jameela Jamil has described coming out as queer as ‘completely overwhelming’ after do so following online criticism for a new role on the TV series Legendary in 2020.

The star received backlash after HBO Max announced that she would be part of its voguing competition series, with some fans arguing Jameela, who they considered a cisgender heterosexual woman, should not host the series.

Some viewers felt the actress was not representative of the show’s ballroom culture, which was created by primarily black and Latin LGBTQ people in New York City in the 1980s.

In response to the criticism she received for her role on the show, Jameela revealed that she identifies as queer.

Taking to social media days later, the Good Place star admitted she picked a bad time to come out but also said that, having kept the secret for decades, it always felt like she might blurt it out at anytime. 

Alongside a selfie, she wrote: ‘Well. Last week was a perfect clusterf**k. It was completely overwhelming.

‘The sequence of events was insane, a misunderstanding was left uncorrected for too long, and misinformation spread too far, too fast, then my timing was bad, and in a moment of distress and pain, personal things were blurted out because when you have a secret for decades and you’re traumatized, it always feels like it might just f*****g burst out of you at any given moment, even the most inappropriate and unfortunate ones. 

‘I thankfully chose the *most* inappropriate and unfortunate time, maybe ever, for mine. So now you don’t have to feel embarrassed about yours. I PEAKED FOR ALL OF US!

‘But timing aside. Better out than in, and thank you for the thousands of messages of kindness and deeply personal letters from strangers and people I know, coming out to me privately. I don’t take it lightly and am happy for you that you felt ready to tell even one person.

‘Do it whenever you feel the time is right, as long as you think you’ll be safe. Don’t feel bad for hiding it for as long as you need, and move at your own pace. 

‘But feel no shame about getting it off your chest and know you aren’t alone. There is a huge community of people who understand you, respect you and stand with you.

‘On we go, hoping this week will be calmer than the last, and sending everyone the most love. Jam’.

Jameela then came out in response to the online criticism she had received, describing X in particular as ‘brutal’.  

She wrote: ‘This is why I never officially came out as queer. I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago, as it’s not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter.

‘But I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid.’

‘I didn’t come from a family with *anyone* openly out. It’s also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you’re already a brown female in your thirties.

‘This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out, I’m jumping off this hell app for a while because I don’t want to read mean comments dismissing this. You can keep your thoughts.

‘I know that being queer doesn’t qualify me as ballroom. But I have privilege and power and a large following to bring to this show, (as does the absolutely iconic Megan Thee Stallion,) and its beautiful contestants and ballroom hosts.

‘Sometimes it takes those with more power to help a show get off the ground so we can elevate marginalized stars that deserve the limelight and give them a chance.

‘I’m not the MC. I’m not the main host. I’m just a lead judge due to my 11 years of hosting experience, being fully impartial, a newcomer to ballroom (like much of the audience will be) and therefore a window in for people who are just discovering it now, and being a longtime ally of the LGBTQ community.’

Jameela has been with long-term boyfriend James Blake since 2015.

RITA ORA

Rita Ora publicly confirmed that she is bisexual after she was stormed with criticism for her song Girls, in which the lyrics talk about ‘just wanting to kiss girls sometimes’. 

Rita – who has since 2022 been married to director Taika Waititi – previously said she felt responsible ‘to make sure the message in the single [Girls] was clear’.

Speaking on RuPaul’s What’s The Tee podcast, Rita said: ‘When I was younger I was very experimental – in my late teens, early 20s – so I wanted to make a song about girls who may have been confused about who they are.’

The songstress was soon slammed after releasing racy track – featuring artists Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charli XCX – which aims to project female empowerment, while discussing themes of bisexuality and self-love.

Feelings hitmaker Hayley Kiyoko and singer Kehlani branded the song as ‘just downright tone-deaf’, which they claimed ‘does more harm than good for the LGBTQ+ community’. 

Others online also felt the lyrics could suggest that ‘kissing girls’ is a frivolous, fun activity for straight women that doesn’t mean anything.

Rita, who has been in high-profile relationships with Calvin Harris and Ricky Hilfiger, issued a heartfelt apology following the song’s release, and came out as a bisexual shortly after.

Admitting she understood where the musicians were coming from, Rita went on: ‘When it came out I think people looked at it, because they didn’t know about my experience, like I was using the culture – which was understandable.

‘I never looked at it like that because I knew I’d experienced it. But I forgot that nobody else knew that’, she added.

In 2019, Rita revealed that she sees things as ‘faceless and genderless’ when it comes to her love life and looks at the ‘person’ rather than their physical appearance.

The singer spoke to Daily Star Online, stating: ‘I admire beauty from men and women. I see things as faceless and genderless, for me it is about the person.’

HARRY STYLES

Harry’s career has seen him constantly questioned about his sexuality, following several instances of queerbaiting accusations – as he has been urged to address in it several interviews.

The former One Direction member has been slammed by fans after making a comment that film depictions of gay sex are usually ‘two guys going at it.’

The singer spoke with Rolling Stone about his 2022 film, My Policeman, in which he plays a homosexual police officer hiding his sexuality in the 1950s – but ignited a backlash when he spoke of his desire to express tenderness in the film’s love scenes.

Harry, who also detailed his refusal to conform to a sexuality label and discussed his journey to ‘figuring out’ his sexuality, said: ‘So much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it.

‘I would imagine, some people who watch it who were very much alive during this time when it was illegal to be gay, and [director Michael Grandage] wanted to show that it’s tender and loving and sensitive.’

However, fans took to X to criticise the singer for ‘speaking for queer people; while ‘refusing to claim the community.’

He has previously said he had to shed the shame he felt from having his sex life scrutinised while he was still just trying to make sense of it.

And following scrutiny over his choice to don gender fluid ensembles and not conform to a sexuality label, Harry hit back at speculation.

He told Rolling Stone: ‘Sometimes people say, “You’ve only publicly been with women,” and I don’t think I’ve publicly been with anyone. If someone takes a picture of you with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re choosing to have a public relationship or something.’

Talking about his role as a homosexual in My Policeman, Harry said: ‘I think everyone, including myself, has your own journey with figuring out sexuality and getting more comfortable with it.

‘It’s not like “This is a gay story about these guys being gay.” It’s about love and about wasted time to me.’

He was also critcised in 2021, after making history as the first solo male cover star of US Vogue, appearing on the publication’s front page in a dress.

Billy Porter – who has since publicly apologised to Harry – slammed the magazine’s decision to use a straight, white male in their first gender-neutral cover shoot and indicated that Harry was only wearing a dress because it was ‘the thing to do.’

Later, during an appearance on Late Night With Stephen Colbert, the 55-year-old actor said sorry to the singer.

‘The first thing I wanna say is, Harry Styles, I apologize to you for having your name in my mouth. It’s not about you. The conversation is not about you,’ said Billy.

Stephen explained, ‘For the people who don’t know, Harry Styles was the first man to appear on the cover of Vogue —’   

‘In a dress,’ Billy finished.

The Emmy Award winner went on to say, ‘And so the conversation is actually deeper than that. It is about the systems of oppression and erasure of people of color who contribute to the culture.’

‘Now that’s a lot to unpack. I’m willing to unpack it sans the dragging and cancel culture of the internet because I do not now nor will not ever adjudicate my life or humanity in sound bites on social media. 

‘So when you are ready to have the real conversation, call a b*tch.’

Billy then began fanning himself with the Pride fan that he brought for his appearance and said, ‘I’m ready to have it and I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean no harm.’

 ‘I’m a gay man, We like Harry, he’s cute,’ he added.