Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo, who has been married to his wife Fleur for more than a decade, has shared that he is gay.
Shomo married Fleur in 2012, but said he wanted to address growing public talk about his personal life, describing himself as a “proud gay man.”
The 33-year-old wrote on Instagram: “There’s been a lot of speculation surrounding my personal life as of late and I feel compelled to set the record straight before it affects those I love any further.
“I am a proudly gay man.
“This is something I’ve been unpacking and reckoning with in my life for quite some time now. It’s been difficult to navigate the feelings surrounding the subject and figure out what to do with this fact.”
He also reflected on how his music has tracked his efforts to understand himself, explaining: “When it comes to my art / Beartooth, I have always strived to chase who I am in the deepest part of my soul from album to album.
“As you could gather if you’ve followed the band at all in the earlier years, there are 4 very self deprecating albums about exploring my religious upbringing, depression, self hatred, self loathing, and hopelessness. I am grateful for all these albums, yet feel embarrassed at times that I wouldn’t allow myself to really dig up the roots for so long.”
Shomo went on to say he has ‘spent a decade burying feelings with alcohol’. He explained that after stepping away from drinking and trying to understand what sat beneath those feelings, he found himself on ‘a direct path to me reconciling with my sexuality in hopes that it will eventually lead to me experiencing self love’.
Looking ahead, he said he had made a commitment to be completely honest in the band’s next chapter: “One thing I decided before I wrote a single note or lyric of the upcoming album is that whatever happens, I will express myself whole heartedly and fully,” Shomo went on to share.
“Wherever it takes me I will follow and I refuse to water any part of it down, from the music, to the lyrical content, and way I portray myself. I will only do what makes me happy at the deepest level and what is the most honest depiction of who I am.”
He closed his message by underscoring how important self-acceptance has become to him: “I believe it’s impossible to love every part of you when you won’t face every part of you head on. I am trying to finally be proud of who I am and I think this is a massive part of that journey.”
After Shomo’s announcement, Fleur also shared her perspective. While calling their separation ‘disorientating and hurtful’, she said she ‘will always want to love, protect and support Caleb’.
“To support him whilst losing everything has been incredibly hard to figure out,” Fleur said, per Mirror Online, adding: “You can love and support your person through the hardest time in their life, whilst also be completely demolished & lose yourself at the same time.”
Fleur added that she has always wanted Shomo ‘to be happy’, and said being alongside him through this period ‘has been a learning curve we never expected to experience together’.
She ended her post by reflecting on their time together: “Our nearly 14yrs of marriage was wonderful and full of so much fun, adventure & love.
“Nobody will know anything about our marriage like we do, and no one can ever truly know what depths of love exist between two people unless they are those people.”