(Screenshot courtesy of YouTube)

Olly Alexander says he is forced to avoid social media because of vicious anti-gay bulling.

In an interview with NME, the Years & Years frontman, 25, says he receives lots of hate online and it takes its toll.

“I get trolled. The usual stuff – sometimes it’s homophobic, like gay hate,” Alexander told NME. “But I don’t understand why people ‘@’ me on Twitter to say ‘Olly Alexander can’t sing’ or ‘Olly Alexander, you’re ugly as fuck.'”

Alexander says he especially avoids Twitter after he’s made a television appearance because that’s when the online comments get extra nasty.

“I get some people who are really gross and make rape jokes about me,” Alexander says. “It’s fucked up. That’s why I can’t read too much anymore because I don’t need to be seeing that shit.”

Despite the negative attention, Alexander still wants to use his public platform for LGBT advocacy and mental health awareness.

“It’s not because I think I have a responsibility as a pop star or whatever; it’s because I think I have a responsibility as a human being,” Alexander says. “There was just this stage where I realized that people were listening to what I was saying and I could actually say something I believe in and, like… why wasn’t I doing that?”