Lil Nas X is pulling back the curtain on a difficult stretch of his life marked by anxiety, isolation and a need to start again.
In a podcast interview recorded in February 2025 and released this month, the “Call Me By Your Name” star spoke candidly about stepping back from public life, confronting his fears and trying to rebuild a healthier relationship with himself. The conversation, taped for Outlaws with TS Madison, marked his first long-form interview in more than a year.
The 27-year-old artist, born Montero Hill, said there was a period where he kept a low profile not because of strategy, but because he was overwhelmed. He described feeling paranoid and as though the world was against him, even while recognising that some of that fear had taken shape in his own head. That, he said, pushed him into another self-love journey and a renewed effort to accept every part of himself rather than constantly trying to force change.
He also reflected on the pressure to keep evolving all the time, saying people can become too obsessed with growth and transformation to the point that they stop allowing change to happen naturally. Instead of feeling liberated by reinvention, he suggested he had become trapped in overthinking.
Part of that reset involved changing the people around him. In the interview, Hill said he had parted ways with some collaborators, not out of personal hostility, but because he was trying to be clearer about what he wanted and did not want for his next chapter. He framed the decision as one of instinct and clarity rather than conflict.
Lil Nas X also used the conversation to reflect on the expectations placed on him as a Black gay artist in mainstream pop. He pushed back against the idea that he should represent some polished, perfect version of identity, arguing instead that his imperfections make him a more honest reflection of real life. In that sense, he said, unpredictability and messiness are part of what make him truthful rather than deficient.
The interview has gained extra weight because of everything that followed. In August 2025, Hill was arrested in Los Angeles after police responded to reports of a man walking nearly naked in Studio City. Prosecutors alleged he injured three officers during the incident and charged him with felony battery on a police officer and resisting an executive officer. He pleaded not guilty.
Earlier this month, a Los Angeles judge approved his entry into a mental health diversion programme, citing a bipolar disorder diagnosis and treatment progress since the arrest. According to the Associated Press, he completed nearly two months of inpatient treatment in Arizona, and if he complies with the conditions of the programme for two years and avoids further legal trouble, the case will be dismissed. A conviction could otherwise have exposed him to a prison sentence.
Taken together, the interview and the legal developments paint a fuller picture of an artist in a period of real transition. The bravado that helped define Lil Nas X’s rise has not disappeared, but it now seems to sit alongside something more measured: a willingness to pause, strip things back and do the internal work. That final point is an inference based on the podcast remarks and recent court outcome.
