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"I want to share that and really honor the person that I love and loves me back and is teaching me so much about love and healing."
Singer August Alsina has opened up in the season finale of VH1's The Surreal Life, in what social media is calling a coming out.
In the clip, which was the last of the episode, Alsina begins to talk about love.
"Love showed up, but in a new way," he says in a confessional. "I want to share that and really honor the person that I love and loves me back and is teaching me so much about love and healing. I want to do that in front of the world because it defies all of the constructs one would say love is supposed to be or love should look like."
Alsina then looks up and another man enters the frame to sit down next to him.
"I love you," he then says. The pair then hug.
\u201cAugust Alsina announces he has boyfriend \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffe\u201d— (Le)Troy (@(Le)Troy) 1669089752
Alsina has made his career as a singer collaborating with the likes of Trinidad James on the hit "I Luv This Shit" and Nicki Minaj on "No Love." Back in 2014, he won Best New Artist at the BET Awards. In what was likely his most notable break into public life, his "entanglement" with Jada Pinkett Smith turned not only into viral fodder but into a news item that held public attention for weeks.
Alsina has not further clarified his comments on The Surreal Life, nor has he made the identity of the man in the frame known. Some on social media are referring to the cliffhanger ending as a stunt for ratings.
People online have identified the man in the frame as Zu. According to them, Zu is Alsina's "little brother" -- it is unclear if this is a biological sibling that was previously unknown or a term of platonic endearment. The statements on the show were then crafted to make it sound more exciting to entice viewers for another season but not a definitive statement about Alsina's sexuality according to these critics.
The pair have a song that premiered June 24, called "2AM." On Instagram the two performed in D.C. together and also wished Alsina's mother, Sheila Blair, a happy birthday. From the birthday wishes it seems as if they share a mother.
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Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
