Shawn Mendes Just Acknowledged The Lose-Lose Situation He Is In When It Comes To Speculation Surrounding His Sexuality

“But you know what, I’ve just started to learn, people, when they’re saying that stuff, those are, like, 10 people, and there’s 10 million people who are like…” Shawn trailed off before agreeing with Zane that the critics were “projecting.”

“It’s entirely projection,” he said, going on to thank the host for his support. “I appreciate you backing me up, though. For my own sake, I just want to live in an authentic truth, but I also just feel really protective of all artists — especially ones coming up.”

“I’ve been in this for 10 years, so I think sometimes, like: ‘OK, you know, I can do this, I’m 26, I know who I am, I can do this, I can speak some truth,’” Shawn concluded. “So maybe the next generation of artists feel a little more comfortable, [have] a little more permission to speak, and that’s important to me.”