2022 Rewind: For Joshua Bassett, Coming Out 'Was the Easiest Thing I've Ever Done'

EDGE is looking back at 2022 and we're resharing some of our favorite stories of the year.

When Joshua Bassett posted on Instagram last May, he talked about how hot Harry Styles is. "They kept asking me questions about Harry Styles," he told People Magazine, "and I was like, 'This is pretty much my coming out video.'"

"I wasn't intending on saying that, but I also wasn't kidding."

He added that making that post "was the easiest thing I've ever done."

"I feel so much more liberated," he said. "It showed me how silly it is to hide who you are in order to appease a small group of people. At what cost do you bury your heart and soul?"

He talked about how if he had outlets to explore his sexuality when he was young, he could have navigated his experience in a healthier way. "If somebody had talked about all this stuff when I was a kid, it would've made a world of difference. Everything I do aligns with what I needed when I was 10."

His coming out has been part of a tumultuous year for the 21-year-old actor, best known for "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series." "Last January, he found himself at the center of intense public scrutiny when his 'HSMTMTS' costar Olivia Rodrigo released her viral hit 'Drivers License,'" People said.

While they never confirmed a relationship, the song was thought to be about the break-up. And there was collateral damage: "Bassett says the stress from the hate he received – including death threats on social media – hit him hard. Then he wound up in the hospital battling septic shock and heart failure, which doctors told him could have been caused by stress, for nine days."

"In this last year a lot of my biggest fears came true," he said. "But in that, I found that I'll always be OK, if not better off."

In December, Bassett released a trio of lyrically revealing songs in December: "Crisis," "Secret" and "Set Me Free." On the last he sings, "Tell my mom I'm OK while I'm holding back tears / It's been a f---ing year."

He also told People that "he was sexually abused both as a child and as a teenager." He shared the news with hopes that it would help others heal from similar trauma.

"And when I was a teen, a much older man routinely abused me, and I wasn't able to see it for what it was at the time," he told GQ.

In his IG post, he wrote: "My entire life people have told me my sexuality. People have shamed me for things they know nothing about. I want to say thank you to those of you who stand for love and acceptance."

"Love who you love shamelessly," he continued. "It's OK to still be figuring out who you are. Life's too short to let ignorance and hatred win. I choose love."

But, he added, he is not dating.

"Dating is not on my radar," he said. "I'm working on myself so much, and the place I'm in right now, I really only have energy for myself."

And he's moving forward with his career. In February he released a new single, "Doppelgänger."

"And he hopes to spread a positive message with his new Disney + film 'Better Nate Than Ever' (streaming April 1), about a boy who runs away from home to New York City to pursue his Broadway dreams," according to People.

"The movie is about this kid who doesn't fit in to his hometown, so he goes and follows his bliss to where he knows he's going to be celebrated and welcomed, which is New York," Bassett said. "I'm not saying anyone should run away from home to New York, but there's something about the magic in this story about a kid who will not settle for what the world tells him he needs to be. I can resonate with that independence."

Check out these posts from Bassett's IG account: