Highlights
- Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo publicly comes out as gay in a May 23 Instagram statement.
- Wife Fleur Shomo confirms the end of their marriage but expresses full support for Caleb.
- Shomo says he spent nearly a decade using alcohol to suppress his true feelings.
Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo has publicly come out as a gay man, ending months of fan speculation with a candid Instagram statement posted on May 23, 2026.
“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,” he wrote, before adding plainly, “I am a proudly gay man.”
Shomo acknowledged that his journey toward self-acceptance had been “difficult to navigate.” He also addressed the personal toll that years of denial had taken, revealing that alcohol had become a destructive coping mechanism.
The singer admitted that he had spent “a decade burying feelings with alcohol.” He said that sobriety ultimately became the turning point that allowed him to confront his truth.
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.
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.
I spent a decade burying feelings with alcohol, and honestly when I decided to put it down and focus on exploring why I felt this way for so long, it’s been a direct path to me reconciling with my sexuality in hopes that it will eventually lead to me experiencing self love. 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. 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. 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.
To those who have shown me love, empowerment through living life freely and openly in my presence, supporting the queer community, or simply telling me you love me whoever I am, I am forever in your debt and I hope you know what you mean to me. I encourage anyone who’s struggling with who they are to give yourself grace. Give yourself patience. Be honest with yourself. Do the hard work instead of burying it down as deep as you physically can thinking it will change like I did. Holding these things in only hurt you and those around you. Love you all, and hopefully this is a step in the right direction to loving myself one day.
Shortly after his post went live, his wife of more than a decade, Fleur Shomo, responded publicly. She wrote, “The past few months have been a very disorienting and hurtful time to navigate. For both of us. But I will always want to love, protect and support Caleb.”
Fleur reflected on her years beside him, stating, “I have cared more about his well being over the years than anything else in the world.”
The announcement arrived several months after Beartooth released the single “Free” in February 2026, with a music video featuring Shomo in glitter, makeup, and expressive clothing, intensifying online speculation about his identity.
The news also comes days after Beartooth announced the U.S. leg of their upcoming Pure Ecstasy World Tour. The band shows no signs of slowing down, and neither, it seems, does the newly liberated singer steering it.
