'I Shouldn't Out Him' — Clay Aiken Swerves into Strange Question about Shawn Mendes
Former "American Idol" contestant Clay Aiken, who is openly gay, was talking with Variety about his new Christmas album, titled "Christmas Bells Are Ringing," when the conversation took a sudden turn. Seemingly out of nowhere, Aiken abruptly asked whether fellow singer Shawn Mendes had come out.
"I haven't put out an album in so long that doing press in general is new," Aikens said early in the interview, before suddenly asking: "By the way, did Shawn Mendes come out today? Have you seen this video on his Instagram?"
"Aiken's interview seemingly took place at the end of October when Mendes made headlines for saying he was still 'figuring out' his sexuality at his concert in Colorado," The New York Post contextualized. "Clips of the moment were shared on TikTok by fans."
Aiken went on to say, "I didn't finish watching it because I looked at the time and I was like, 'Oh God, I gotta get on the computer.' So I don't know if he really did."
"I shouldn't out him if he didn't," the "This is the Night" singer added.
Mendes has spoken recently about the effect public speculation around his sexuality had on him. He pushed back last week on being made the object of fans' "projections" while being interviewed by podcaster Zane Lowe.
In the course of that conversation, Mendes did a deep dive into the meaning of his song "The Mountain" — in which he declares himself uninterested in fan speculations about his private life.
Aiken's seemingly random query pulled the Variety interview into different territory, as Aiken asserted that in this day and age, celebrities' sexuality is not the hot button issue it was when he shot to fame in the wake of his 2003 run on "American Idol."
"I feel like no one has speculated about shit since 2000 — since I went through that crap," Aiken told Variety. "I joke that after I came out publicly, it stopped being a story."
"I don't know that anybody has had press in that way, like tabloid stories or questions by Diane Sawyer."
Offering his take on why he thought public interest has shifted away from the question of which celebrities might be LGBTQ+ or not, Aiken offered, "Maybe people got bored after going through six years of it with me."
The singer went on to note, "We have insisted our media become more empathetic. Press can't invade in the way they used to be able to invade. And that's great."
"But I didn't mean to derail this," Aiken added, steering the conversation back to his new album. "It just came up on my screen right before I turned on the computer."
In comments to the audience of the live set last month, Mendes noted the public's fascination with his personal life, saying, "There's this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it for so long." He added that such prurient interest is "kind of silly," and mused, "I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it's so hard to just put into boxes."
Mendes went on to explain to the audience that he's "still figuring it out" in comments that went viral on social media.