Pop artist Madison Beer is ready to speak her truth — and she’s doing it on her own terms. In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about her bisexuality, her complicated relationship with the music industry, and how she’s approaching the next phase of her career with a renewed sense of authenticity.

Beer, who first gained public attention at just 12 years old when Justin Bieber shared a video of her singing on YouTube, has long been a favorite in LGBTQ+ spaces. Despite this devoted fan base, she says she’s still surprised by the level of scrutiny her sexuality receives in media interviews.

“I’m just like, ‘Yeah, I don’t really know why you give a [expletive] that I want to date a girl,’” Beer told Cosmopolitan. “I’ve never understood homophobic people, because I’m just like, ‘Why are you affected by someone else’s sexual preference?’ It doesn’t affect me unless I’m trying to sleep with you and you don’t want to sleep with me.”

Beer emphasized that her decision to speak openly about her sexuality comes from a place of solidarity and compassion for the queer community.

“I like to speak about it because I know how much the gay community has been through,” she said. “My grandfather married a woman and had three children with her because he was trying to convert himself. It makes me so upset that we live in this world where you can’t just be who you are.”

Her comments come amid growing conversations about queer representation in pop culture and the often performative nature of allyship in the entertainment industry. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Beer appears committed to a message of genuine inclusion, rooted in personal and family history.

Beer’s reflections on her sexuality are deeply intertwined with the pressures she faced growing up in the spotlight. Signed to a major label before she became a teenager, Beer recalled disturbing experiences involving the sexualization and objectification of her image by adult men in the industry.

“There was a conversation around me when I was 14,” she shared. “I remember people being like, ‘She’s too sexy’ and ‘We can’t sell the sex because she’s so young, so we’d have to wait.’ This was a real conversation — grown men talking about how I was too sexy. I was 14.”

Beer was eventually dropped from her first label, a move she attributes to the industry’s confusion over how to market her as an artist. But instead of letting it define her, she used the experience as motivation to reclaim her voice and creative direction.

Now, more than a decade after her discovery, Beer is preparing to release her third studio album, which she says is a culmination of both personal growth and professional evolution.

“I have the highest goals,” Beer said of the upcoming project, slated for release later this year. “This is hopefully what solidifies everything for me, whatever that means. That’s why it’s been hard to make — there’s a lot of pressure I’m putting on myself. So it’s taking me a second, but it feels exciting.”

For Beer, authenticity is key. She noted that she doesn’t want success if it comes at the cost of her identity or self-expression.

“I don’t want to succeed if it means not being who I am,” she said. “I don’t need people to love me. And I don’t want people to listen to my music if it’s not real.”

Beer’s comments underscore the growing demand for transparency and integrity in the entertainment industry, especially among younger artists navigating fame in the social media age. Her willingness to address issues like homophobia, industry sexism, and personal identity marks her as part of a new generation of pop stars using their platforms to foster connection, not just celebrity.

With the upcoming album, Beer is hoping to make a lasting impression — not just on the charts, but on fans who value vulnerability and truth.

“Whatever this next chapter holds,” she said, “I just want it to feel real. I want to look back and say I was proud of what I put out into the world.”

As she continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ visibility and call out systemic flaws in the music business, Beer remains a compelling voice in both pop culture and queer representation. And if her fans have anything to say about it, the world is finally catching up.