Demi Lovato, 28, apologized for her recent attack on a frozen yogurt shop and actress Jameela Jamil came to the singer’s defense.
After a feud broke out between Lovato and the L.A. frozen yogurt shop, The Bigg Chill, this past weekend, Twitter exploded with accusations from fans that the singer was using her fame to try to slander a small business.
Demi Lovato posts a scathing message
Lovato went on a rampage after going to the yogurt shop, saying that seeing sugar-free and diet options listed were “triggering” for her as she has struggled with eating disorders throughout her life.
The star posted a scathing message about the shop on her Instagram live story, saying, “Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from @thebiggchillofficial when you have to walk past tons of sugar free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter. Do better please.”
She went on to Instagram later to try to clarify her statement against the shop, asking them to make it “more clear that the sugar free options and vegan options are for that” given that it was “confusing and being in LA its hard to distinguish diet culture vs health needs.”
The internet was not happy with Lovato’s attack and called the singer a “Karen” and shamed her for using her fame as a platform for spreading negativity against a local business.
One Twitter user said, “The way Demi Lovato slammed that fro-yo shop for having something that EVERYONE can have is just wild to me. Love her and all but no. Just no.”
Explaining her reasoning for the attack
Lovato hopped onto Instagram live to share an apology to The Bigg Chill for her actions, saying, “So, I have kind of gotten in the middle of something with this yogurt shop called The Bigg Chill. Now, I am very outspoken about the things that I believe in.”
She added, ” I understand that sometimes my messaging can lose, uh, lose its, like, meaning when I get emotional, right? I am human. I am somebody who is just very passionate about what I believe in and I’ve lived through enough to know when to speak up for people who don’t have a voice.”
She continued her live post and explained why she wanted to address the shop, saying that she simply wanted to call attention to the things that could pose issues for someone recovering from or currently suffering from an eating disorder.
She said, “The truth of the matter is, as someone that deals with an eating disorder, like, that is in recovery from an eating disorder, I still, to this day, have a hard time walking into a fro yo shop, ordering yogurt, and being content with it and keeping it down…..people with eating disorders should be able to go in and feel safe wherever they go to eat….I’m so sorry if it got misconstrued. I don’t always get this right. I speak my mind, I’m opinionated, and then sometimes I get labeled as problematic.”
Though many people were offended by Lovato’s attack, some were more understanding. The Good Place star, actress Jameela Jamil, came to the singer’s defense with a lengthy retort shared by Lovato on her Instagram story.
“…If an eating disorder advocate says she sees products that are positioned as guilt free, and it is potentially triggering, that doesn’t mean she’s too stupid to remember that diabetics exist. It just means that we need to change the marketing of products that are for people’s needs. That’s all @ddlovato was asking for. It doesn’t make her a monster. It doesn’t mean she disregards people’s illnesses. She’s just one of few celebrities reminding us to look out for mental illness. Guilt free is diet culture terminology.”
The Bigg Chill has yet to respond to Lovato’s apology.