Khalid comes out after being dismissed, answers Hugo D Almonte

Photo: Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Singer-songwriter Khalid came out as gay in a series of tweets about his sexuality on Friday. “!!! there you go. next topic please lol,” he said in one introductory post. “Wait hope Mr. Khalid isn’t GEHHH!” someone replied to which Khalid clarified“I am! And that’s okay.” He then suggested that he was not the first person to share this personal news, “I came out (sic) and the world still continues to turn,” he tweeted. “Let’s get this straight (lmao) I’m not ashamed of my sexuality! In reality, it doesn’t matter! But I’m fine with me love you guys.” I other tweetshe emphasized that he has not “hid” his identity. Khalid’s post came after fellow singer Hugo D Almonte took to X with allegations about an ex, who he initially did not identify by name. In a since-deleted tweet, Almonte said he dated and broke up with a “dumb-ass singer” who allegedly then falsely accused him of breaking into their home. Almonte then appeared to confirm who he was talking about by posting a since-deleted selfie with Khalid along with the caption, “Bitch ass lied and said I broke into his house because I didn’t want him.” While Khalid didn’t specify who struck him out, the internet seemed pretty sure it was Almonte. (Singer and producer MNEK tweeted directly at Almonte to call him out for “loser Loser LOSER LOSER behavior.”)

When asked for comment, Almonte defended himself in an emailed statement to Vulture. “(It’s) really funny how it works because my intentions were never to exclude anyone who has clearly already been out in the Los Angeles community,” he wrote in part. “my intentions were to share my story and share how he tried to use his power to silence me because I simply ended our relationship, he was afraid of what I might say.” Almonte added that people have begun to “belittle” his character and send him death threats. “All I’ve learned from this is never let anyone shut me up, it’s crazy that these people said I was chasing power when I stuck with this for five years and I got finally enough,” he concluded. Almonte also tweeted and deleted a similar but longer Notes app statement that doubled down and declared, “So if I had a chance to do it all over again, I’d do it over and over and over the same way.”