Singer Khalid has scored five UK Top 40 singles, including 2018 chart-topper “Eastside”. (Rebecca Sapp/Getty)

Singer Khalid has come out publicly as gay after being outed on social media, declaring that he was “never hiding” and is “not ashamed” of his sexuality.

The US musician, 26, confirmed his sexuality on Friday (22 November) in a series of posts on X, shortly after fellow artist Hugo D Almonte posted a picture of the pair together and disclosed explicit details of an alleged sexual liaison between them.

Posting a rainbow flag emoji, Khalid wrote: “there yall go. next topic please lol” before responding a fan who asked whether he was gay with the sweetly simple reply: “I am! And that’s okay”.

Khalid, who is best known for hits including 2017’s “Love Lies” with Normani and 2018’s “Eastside” with Halsey and Benny Blanco, continued to open up to fans on the platform, insisting that he was “never hiding” his sexuality but that it was “nobody’s business”.

“I got outted and the world still continues to turn [sic]”, the Grammy-nominated star wrote.

“Let’s get this straight (lmao) I am not ashamed of my sexuality! In reality it ain’t nobodies business! But I am okay with me.”

After a fan responded with a clip of his 2022 track “Satellite”, describing it as an “LGBTQ+ anthem”, Khalid replied: “thank you!!!! I was never hiding”.

Meanwhile, Almonte has been copping heat for his role in the outing, with queer British singer and producer MNEK among those criticising the musician – who averages 744 monthly listeners on Spotify – on social media.

“loser Loser LOSER LOSER behaviour”, MNEK wrote, tagging Almonte, before adding in a follow-up: “i don’t like that sh*t, that’s so WHACCCCCKKKKKKK”.

Texas-born Khalid has scored five UK Top 40, including 2018’s chart-topping “Eastside”. His debut studio album American Teen was released in 2017 and his third LP, Sincere, arrived in August this year.

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