Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, professionally known as The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter who just turned 33 this year. He was known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism — for his explicit songs about sex and drugs, many of which were autobiographical, and for his soaring falsetto and its singular tremolo.
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The R&B artist was making headlines for his chart-topping tracks and his public relationships. He holds several streaming and Billboard chart records and is the first artist to simultaneously debut in the top three on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. His accolades include 4 Grammy Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 22 Juno Awards, 6 American Music Awards, 2 MTV Video Music Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
It’s normal for fans to be interested in their favorite celebrity’s personal life and Tesfaye is no exception. Fans were curious about his sexual orientation.
So the question is — Is The Weeknd gay?
VOTE: What is The Weeknd’s Sexuality?
High-Profile Dating History
It might surprise you to learn the names of those who were linked to Tesfaye. The singer had several high-profile romances, from Bella Hadid, to Selena Gomez, to Angelina Jolie.
The R&B artist was in an on-and-off relationship with American model Bella Hadid from April 2015 to August 2019. They met when he asked her to be on the cover of one of his albums.
I actually asked her to be on the artwork for Beauty Behind the Madness. My motive was literally to work with her.”
Tesfaye told Rolling Stone
The collaboration didn’t push through. But even though the project didn’t happen, something else did — their romance. Hadid later starred in the MV of “In The Night”.
The couple dated for four years with several breaks in between until they broke up for good in 2019. His single “Heartless” was said to be about her.
The singer then briefly dated singer-actress Selena Gomez from January to October 2017. This was during one of his breaks with Bella Hadid and after Selena Gomez broke up with Justin Bieber. They have dated for 10 months and even enjoyed traveling around the globe together for the R&B singer’s “Starboy: Legend of the Fall” tour. When Gomez had to go through a kidney transplant, it was reported that Tesfaye scheduled his tour dates in such a way that he could be with her as she recovered.
The two eventually broke up but remained friends. Tesfaye’s relationships with Hadid and Gomez both received widespread media attention. It even landed on the pages of several tabloids.
After Tesfaye broke up with Selena Gomez — who got together with Justin Bieber — the R&B singer was then linked to model Yovanna Ventura. And the funny thing is, Ventura was romantically linked to Bieber in 2014.
Although Tesfaye never really confirmed his romance with the model, they were reportedly acting “pretty affectionate” at a party together.
The Weeknd was there hand in hand with Yovanna Ventura all night. They arrived together. They were holding hands. He was there for a solid two hours with her and everywhere they went they held hands.”
a source told Us Weekly magazine
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In 2021, the singer was linked to actress Angelina Jolie. This was after they were spotted leaving the same restaurant moments apart after a source reported that they had dined together for hours. They were again spotted dining together at the same restaurant a few months later, fueling the dating rumors. The romance was, however, not confirmed. A source, in fact, denied that the two were in a romantic relationship.
They are not dating. They have mutual interests and are enjoying putting their ideas together to see what they can come up with. They have been recently talking about partnering on a few humanitarian projects together. He loves talking about movies and the art form.”
a source told E News!
A song The Weeknd released on January 22 titled “Here We Go… Again”, from the album “Dawn FM”, added fuel to the dating rumors between the two. Rumor has it that the R&B singer was talking about her in the said song.
My new girl, she a movie star. I loved her right, make her scream like Neve Campbell.”
The dating rumors between Tesfaye and Jolie eventually died down when the singer started hanging out with Simi Khadra.
Tesfaye dated model and DJ Simi Khadra in February 2022. Rumors about them sparked when they were spotted making out during the R&B singer’s 32nd birthday celebration in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The DJ used to be best friends with Tesfaye’s ex, Bella Hadid. Hadid was said to have unfollowed Khadra on Instagram when she started going out with her ex-boyfriend.
There have been no further details about the romance. It could only be short-lived. And there was no report whether the R&B artist is in any romantic relationship as of the moment.
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On Being Called Out for His Homophobic Lyrics
In 2019, The Weeknd was making headlines because of wrong reasons. He was being called out for writing homophobic lyrics.
His song “Lost in the Fire” with French DJ Gesaffelstein, which was released in January 2019, threw him under fire because of its lyrics. In the said song, the R&B artist referred to a woman’s same-sex attraction as “a phase” and promises to “f**k you straight”. It’s not only straight-up homophobic, but it seems to suggest corrective rape, as well.
The singer received a backlash for that from both the public and fellow musicians. Singer-songwriter Marika Hackman, who is openly lesbian, turned to Twitter to call out the R&B artist.
Well done to @theweeknd for managing to deride, fetishise and dismiss lesbianism all in one verse.”
Marika Hackman wrote
Is The Weeknd Gay?
No, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, who is more popularly known as The Weeknd, is not gay. He had a few high-profile relationships with women in the past and was never, not even once, romantically linked with a man. He may be involved in homophobic issues, but he gives fans no reason to doubt his sexuality. He is, without a doubt, straight.