“I just fed the fire that I’m terrified of.” “I was like, ‘Fuck, why did I let her post that?’” he tells the magazine. Even though he had okay-ed the clip (and considers Swift a friend), he regretted it immediately after. Worse still, Mendes says he “felt sick” after seeing a video that Taylor Swift had posted to social media of herself applying glittery makeup to Mendes’ face. Asked about the “thorny” issue (the magazine’s words, not his), Mendes was surprisingly candid, admitting he often feels the need to be seen with a girl in public, to prove that he’s not gay. Two years later, Mendes had to declare, again, that he wasn’t gay, in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. Though he should have been celebrating his new new single (“Treat You Better,” which is still his highest-charting song to date) and prepping for his first-ever world tour, the singer felt the need to defend himself publicly from online commenters and to clarify his sexual orientation, at an age when many people are still worrying about handing in their homework late and waiting for their first kiss.