EDGE Rewind: Charlie Puth Talks Thirst Traps and Being Inspired by LGBTQ+ Culture

EDGE is reaching into its archive and sharing some of our favorite stories from the past.

Charlie Puth – perhaps the most fearlessly, publicly horny celebrity on social media – says he's not gaybaiting with his thirst traps and frank admissions of lust. Rather, he says he's "so inspired" by the gay community.

Puth made this admission in a wide-ranging interview with GQ, in which he also talked about how he found his way back to musical authenticity, his love for Nicki Minaj, and being an "anti-celebrity."

More to the point, however, was how he defended posts showing off his gym-toned physique, clothing choices that flatter rather than camouflage his natural assets, and his openness about liking sex.

Freely admitting that he's "very horny. All the time," Puth told GQ that his posts are less about getting gay male fans worked up (despite being straight himself), and more about visually boasting when it comes to how his workout regimen has paid off.

Almost literally paid off, that is; Puth pointed to the financial cost of being a fitness freak, saying, "These gym sessions are expensive in LA!"

"If anything, he admits he's used the queer community for inspiration in his music," GQ noted. "He drives through West Hollywood every day, and one time, when he was listening to a song he was working on and 'half-happy with,' he passed the WeHo gay clubs Pump and The Abbey, 'and everybody was out dancing to something that's not being played on the radio.'"

That happenstance transformed the song he was fretting over. Puth related that upon hearing the music from clubs, "I literally heard a different song in my head. I rearranged the whole thing, I drove back to the studio, I was so inspired."

"That song, he says, eventually became 'Loser' on [his album] 'Charlie,'" GQ detailed.

"I think LGBTQ+ culture is so ahead of its time," Puth told the magazine, "culturally, sonically, musically, everything-ly."

Have a look at some of Puth's thirsty posts and decide for yourself.