Lance Bass: 'I bullied gay kids'

Lance Bass has admitted that he bullied gay children during his adolescence.

During an interview on Larry King Live, the now openly gay singer revealed that he tried to protect his secret as a teenager by picking on those who were more open about their sexuality.

"When you're 13, 14, you just go along with what the other people are doing. You just want to fit in," he said. "You want to make sure that your friends like you.

"So yeah, you're going to crack jokes, you're going to laugh along with it. And when you're a teenager, you're not really thinking, 'Oh, I'm being a bully by laughing along with it'."

Bass appeared on King's talkshow to speak out about several recent suicides by gay teens who were the victims of bullying by their peers.

He insisted that kids become victimisers not simply by physically assaulting others, but also by condoning verbal harassment.

"You think, okay, that a bully is just someone that can physically go and harm someone for being short, for being black, white, whatever… You know, you're also a bully by condoning the behaviour and making the jokes along with them."