Lauren Jauregui has spoken about her devastation after having the chance to decide when she came out as bisexual “taken” from her.
The former Fifth Harmony member, 24, was outed on social media in 2016 after photos of her kissing a woman began to spread online.
Speaking on Red Table Talk: The Estefans, the “Work From Home” singer specifically took aim at blogger Perez Hilton for sharing the leaked images.
“Perez definitely outed me [with his tweet about the picture],” she explained.
Jauregui continued: “I wasn’t ready [to be out]. I’m Latina and there was that looming feeling of what is my community going to think about me? Are they even going to accept me?
“I know my family obviously accepted me but was that something they were willing to deal with on a public scale? I had [other] family members who hit me and my family up when it came out.”
The musician explained she had been dating the girl for a year by the time the pictures of them kissing at her uncle’s wedding were found on her aunt’s Facebook page.
“My fans are wild so they found it,” she recalled.
After Perez Hilton’s post, the pictures were widely shared and covered by other outlets.
At the time, he tweeted: “Why are @FifthHarmony fans being so extra so over this photos of @LaurenJauregui (in the red) kissing another girl? NBD!”
Jauregui said that her decision to come out had been “taken” from her.
“I was outed to the public… My own process was violated,” she said.
In response to Lauren’s comment, Hilton said he refused to apologise because he did not believe he outed the star.
He stated: “When I apologise for something – it’s because I mean it and am genuinely remorseful. I am NOT sorry for that tweet about Lauren Jauregui. That was not ‘outing’ her.
“All I did was send out a tweet talking about the leaked photo… I don’t regret that.”
The gossip blogger continued: “I never claimed or presumed anything about her sexuality. Kissing someone of the same sex in a photo booth is playful and so many people do that. It does not mean that person is gay, bi, queer or whatever.”
Jauregui officially came out as bisexual via an open letter that she penned to Trump supporters shortly after the blog post.
In the letter, she wrote: “I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman and I am so proud of it. I am proud to be part of a community that only projects love and education and the support of one another.
“I am proud to be the granddaughter and daughter of immigrants who were brave enough to leave their homes and come to a whole new world with a different language and culture and immerse themselves fearlessly to start a better life for themselves and their families.”
Red Table Talk: The Estefans streams on Facebook Watch.