Tevin Campbell Opens Up About His Sexuality: 'You Just Couldn't Be Back Then'
essence.comPEOPLE Ever Day podcast, the R&B singer talked about the image he was forced to lean into as a teenager in the music industry and how what was portrayed was far from his reality.“I don’t think the sex symbol thing worked, but the love songs last,” the 45-year-old said speaking to the packaging of his successful debut album T.E.V.I.N.
in 1991 and I’m Ready in 1993. “I had no idea at the time, like when I was 15 or 16 recording [‘Can We Talk’] that it would have that impact,” he added. “I was just a kid singing in the studio.”As a child, Campbell wasn’t concerned with his sexuality — neither wanting to lean into it or conceal it, he explained, saying, “I just kind of wanted to be me, you know?” “I didn’t hide anything about me.
I didn’t try to act a certain way or anything,” he added. “You just couldn’t be [gay] back then.”At least not in the public eye when young Black girls were the key market for his music and even that of the fictitious teen idol and crush of Ashley Banks that he played on an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Those closest to Campbell knew the truth, however.“When I came out to my family and friends [at] about 19 or 20, that was it for me.
