David Archuleta has spoken out about fans who walked out of his Christmas show after he made an emotional speech about his gay “journey.”
Archuleta is currently taking his “The More the Merrier” Christmas tour across venues in his home state of Utah.
The musician said that dozens of guests left his recent show in Delta, situated southwest of Salt Lake City, as he opened up about his story about coming out.
He took to Instagram and Facebook on Thursday to share an upsetting email his manager received, complaining that his 15-minute speech at the top ruined the “incredible experience” of the Christmas show.
“I don’t consider that, that concert was a setting for that to occur,” the e-mail read. “We’ve some very upset patrons that I’ll [be] coping with today. I might hope within the remaining concert events, that will not be allowed and just allow them to have an awesome Christmas experience.”
Archuleta turned to social media to deal with the situation and stood by his comments through the show.
“I’m sharing something that I’ve felt I had to maintain hidden nearly all my life. Because you suspect your existence is unacceptable. That mindset shouldn’t be healthy,” Archuleta wrote.
The 31-year-old rose to fame in 2008 when he got here in second place, behind David Cook, on Season 7 of “American Idol.”
Archuleta has shared that he struggled with coming to terms along with his sexuality while being raised in a strict Mormon — which condemns same-sex relationships — household. He eventually got here out to his family in 2014 after which to the general public in 2021.
The singer revealed in his Instagram post that he was so ashamed of his homosexuality that he considered taking his own life quite than coming out to the world. “I used to be considering ending my life was higher than admitting this openly,” he said.
“If just a few dozen people walk out, but there are others staying who must know they’re not alone on this journey. It’s value it to me.”
It’s unclear who sent the e-mail criticism. A representative for Archuleta didn’t immediately reply to The Post for further comment.
Since coming out publicly in the summertime of 2021, Archuleta has been sharing his heartbreaking journey combating anxiety and suicidal thoughts as he got here to simply accept his queerness.
“I is not going to apologize for anything I say nonetheless imperfectly I express it. I’m me. And I won’t ever apologize for it again how I did for therefore a few years before,” he said in his post.
