Fifth Harmony singer says she was warned against coming out as bisexual
Lauren Jauregui said she refused to keep her sexuality a secret.
— -- Fifth Harmony's Lauren Jauregui came out as bisexual last November even though she said people advised her not to talk about it.
Jauregui, 21, said she was warned by family and friends and also by record-label executives who told her she shouldn't be so open about her personal life.
"A lot of artists are held back by the notion that they’ll lose their fan base or alienate themselves," she told Out magazine. "Even friends and family would tell me to keep it to myself. But the more I thought about it, the more I was like, 'Why?'"
"There’s this notion that artists are supposed to be dumb and frivolous," she added. "I completely disagree with that. Madonna, Bob Marley, John Lennon -- they didn’t talk about bull----."
ABC News reached out to Epic Records about Jauregui's claims, but didn't immediately hear back.
Jauregui said she's a bit uncomfortable with the word "bisexual" because it's too limited.
"Even the fact that I labeled myself makes me mad sometimes, because dude, I’m just a free spirit," she said. "People still talk s---, but it’s like, 'Why does it make you feel gross? You can watch a kid get bombed and not do anything about it, but you can’t watch me kiss my girlfriend?'"
