Jason Mraz on why he waited to come out: 'Being gay was like the punch line of a joke'

Jason Mraz considers himself a "late bloomer" in more ways than one.

Despite first rising to fame in 2002, the Grammy Award-winning musician and Dancing With the Stars contestant would wait until 2018 to come out as bisexual. Mraz, 47, revealed why he was reluctant to share his identity in the Tuesday episode of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s on Me podcast, sharing that he feared he would be mocked.

“In the ’90s, being gay was like [the] punch line of a joke, and I didn’t want to be the punch line of a joke," Mraz said.

The “I’m Yours” and “I Won’t Give Up" singer publicly came out six years ago, telling Billboard at the time: “I’ve had experiences with men, even while I was dating the woman who became my wife.” Mraz further spoke on his identity in 2023, around the time he was going through a divorce with his second wife, telling The Advocate how his concealment impacted his music.

“I will admit that I probably spent the first close to 20 years of my career just broadcasting as hetero,” Mraz said. “You know, saying 'girl' in my songs, and a lot of that is growing up on a conservative street. And growing up around homophobia and feeling like I needed to protect some secret.”

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Mraz added that the music industry has since turned into an outlet that's allowed him to become “closer and closer to being myself," continuing, “It helps you continue to express yourself and understand the lessons you're learning in life and understand why you have the loves and the interests you've had in your life.”

“I was having these curiosities and experiences on the side that were starting to influence who I am and the kind of fun I wanted to have in the world and the kind of person I wanted to be in the world, which is more honest and more loving and more inclusive," he said.

In the present, Mraz told Ferguson that he still feels as if “other people my age might be more experienced," but that he's content continuing to grow.

“I can’t say that I have found love yet,” he said. “I have been in amazing relationships and I’ve always learned and grown. And hopefully I don’t have bad karma woven through those relationships, but I love where I am and I feel so much love for myself, finally.”