Ricky Martin Says He Has ‘PTSD’ From 2000 Barbara Walters Interview About Gay Rumors: ‘I Felt Violated’

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Ricky Martin is reflecting on his 2000 interview with Barbara Walters in which she asked the singer to clear up rumors about his sexuality.

In the televised interview, which took place a decade before Martin came out publicly, Walters asked point blank if the rampant rumors regarding him being gay were true.

“You could stop these rumors,” Walters told him. “You could say, ‘Yes I am gay or no I’m not.'” The “Livin’ La Vida Loca” singer responded at the time, “I just don’t feel like it.”

Martin revealed in a new interview with People magazine that the uncomfortable moment still haunts him decades later. “When she dropped the question, I felt violated because I was just not ready to come out. I was very afraid,” he explained. “There’s a little PTSD with that.”

It wasn’t until 10 years later that Martin came out publicly on his official website — an announcement that was widely covered by the media and brought the singer much relief.

“A lot of people say, what would you do differently? Well, maybe I would have come out in that interview,” he added. “It would’ve been great because when I came out, it just felt amazing. When it comes to my sexuality, when it comes to who I am, I want to talk about what I’m made of, about everything that I am. Because if you hide it, it’s a life-or-death situation.”

Martin, who shares four kids with husband Jwan Yosef, added that he’s now “a man with no secrets,” but a lack of LGBTQ mentors in his younger years prevented him from living his truth sooner.

“There are many, many kids out there that don’t have someone to look up to. All they have around them is people telling them, ‘What you’re feeling is evil,'” he said. “But, you can’t force someone to come out. But if you have an egg and you open it from the outside, only death comes out. But if the egg opens up from the inside, life comes out.”