Demi Lovato recently called out a frozen yogurt shop for offering diet options and fans aren’t happy.
The Really Don’t Care singer, 28, was dragged after she criticized the L.A. shop The Bigg Chill for offering sugar-free items in a live Instagram post on Saturday.
As reported by Today online, Lovato wrote, “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 wrote with the hashtag #dietculturevultures.
A feud has begun
The Bigg Chill responded to Lovato with a sharp retort defending their diet options, to which Lovato responded again, telling the shop that her experience was “triggering” and that they were “rude.”
Lovato later added more to her Instagram story, mellowing her tone and asking the shop to make their offerings more clear as to who they are catering to with their diet offerings, suggesting that “…maybe it would help if (they) made it more clear that the sugar free options and vegan options are for that,” adding that “the messaging gets confusing and being in LA it’s really hard to distinguish diet culture vs health needs.”
The internet took up the battle with many people defending the frozen yogurt shop in a Twitter storm. One person shared their disappointment in the singer, saying that for some people with diseases like celiac or diabetes, going for a sugar-free food item is all they are allowed to indulge in.
“As someone who is an insulin dependant diabetic, if I eat sugar, quite literally, I could die. That’s the big picture for me,” one commenter shared.
“So to see my idol post something like this hurts because I don’t have a choice but to not eat sugar. It’s a dietary requirement for some. It makes me feel guilty and dirty which I shouldn’t feel because I can’t eat sugar. I understand that big companies do stuff like this but most are just trying to be inclusive. It would be the same as having vegan/vegetarian options. Please don’t put everything into the same category.”
“Demi Lovato should be ashamed of herself”
Others were harsher on the singer, likening her to a Karen and calling her “pathetic” for using her status as a superstar to feel she had the right to attack a small business. Real Housewives of New York star Leah McSweeney gave her voice to the feud, defending the shop and blasting Lovato for her verbal assault.
According to Page Six, McSweeney shared her feelings on her own Instagram story, saying, “Demi Lovato should be ashamed of herself for using her platform of 102 million people following her on Instagram to drag a frozen yogurt spot because she’s mad that they sell diet frozen yogurt and sugar-free options because that triggers her,” she said.
“I mean, I’m sorry that she had to deal with an eating disorder. That’s terrible. But does that mean that we have to stop offering people sugar-free options for things?”
As the feud continues, Lovato has yet to respond any further to the messages from the yogurt shop or from annoyed social media users.