Demi Lovato revealed that she was raped as a teen while working for the Disney Channel. In her documentary Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, the 28-year-old said that the person faced no consequences after she came forward. Lovato did not reveal who the offender was. She only said she “had to see this person all the time” afterwards. Radio 1 Newsbeat has contacted the Disney Channel for comment. Lovato’s documentary was shown at the South by Southwest virtual festival.
“My MeToo story is me telling somebody that someone did this to me and they never got in trouble for it,” says Demi Lovato in it, according to Variety’s review.
“I’ve just kept it quiet because I’ve always had something to say, and I’m tired of opening my mouth.”
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil tackles issues in the singer’s life such as trauma, addiction and her relapse into a drug overdose in 2018.
She speaks about her alleged rape saying: “We were hooking up but I said – hey, this is not going any farther.
“And that didn’t matter to them, they did it anyway. And I internalised it and I told myself it was my fault because I still went in the room with him.”
In a report by BBC, the Disney Channel alum said she coped through self-harm and going through the eating disorder bulimia. In the YouTube docuseries, Lovato talks about a “promise ring” which was worn by some young stars including herself and the Jonas Brothers, as a commitment to only have sex after marriage.
“So what, I’m supposed to come out to the public after saying I have a promise ring? Six months later, I’m supposed to say, well I had sex, even though it was rape? Some people aren’t going to see it that way.”
The documentary also shows the damage Lovato’s drug overdose had in 2018. After being found unconscious at her Los Angeles home, she was taken to the hospital.
“My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes.”
After suffering three strokes and a heart attack, she’s previously said she had been “left with brain damage and I still feel the effects of that”.
The effects include blurry vision that means she can’t drive and made reading difficult.
Weeks before the incident, she released a song titled Sober, in which she revealed that after six years of sobriety: “I’m not sober any more.”
The singer has previously opened up about her struggles with addiction and bulimia, including in her 2017 YouTube Originals documentary Simply Complicated.
She re-launched her singing career at last year’s Grammy Awards and sang the national anthem at the 2020 Super Bowl.
In January, she sang on a TV special that marked US President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil will appear on YouTube from 23 March./TISG