Demi Lovato has received her fair share of backlash online throughout the years. Lovato has dealt with insensitive “jokes” about her drug abuse problem and overdose since the public was made aware of such events. She even became a meme as a result of a very ill-timed photo, altering the star’s appearance so that some deemed the picture to be of a twin called “Poot.” So, when Lovato took to her Instagram to share her opinions on a frozen yogurt store, the internet was confused, angry, and entertained.
Lovato recounts an experience of simply trying to order some frozen yogurt, when she felt “triggered” by some of the advertising in the store. Lovato has spoken openly about her previous struggles with an eating disorder, and explained how she was “finding it extremely hard” to order from the small business in L.A, The Bigg Chill. Lovato went on to explain, “You have to walk past tons of sugar free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter.” She then asked the business to, “do better please.” Lovato also included a hashtag “diet culture vultures” in her post, prompting fans to jump to her defense. While the majority of the internet found her claims on mistreatment to be unreasonable and unfounded, fans of the “Cool For the Summer” singer swarmed the reviews of The Bigg Chill, leaving thousands upon thousands of one star reviews.
In response to the backlash, the shop took to their official instagram account to state, “We are not diet vultures. We cater to all of our customers’ needs for the past 36 years. We are sorry you found this offensive.” The business also made it clear that they “carry items for diabetics, celiac disease, Vegan, and of course have many indulgent items as well.”
In response, Lovato doubled down, calling the experience “triggering and awful” and going on to post dm’s she shared between the company and herself. She stated the “service was terrible. So rude.” And argued, “You can find a way to provide an inviting environment for all people with different needs. Including eating disorders…”
The star continued to post about this situation, causing many people online to feel as if she was being inflammatory, and trying to get her fans to attack this small business. After receiving enough backlash online, Lovato posted an eight and a half minute apology to instagram, where she promised to send a formal apology to the store and donate $100,000 to make up for the damage she inflicted. However, as of late, the store is claiming to have not yet received this letter of apology, nor the donation.
This controversy comes just weeks after the release of Lovato’s new youtube documentary, “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil” where she opens up about her eating disorder, struggle with addiction, and even her near death experience, when she overdosed.
