First things first : Demi Lovato is awesome. She's one of the best vocalists of her generation, she's gorgeous, and she's one of the most vocal advocates for mental health awareness ever. That being said, she's not without her flaws. Here are some ways the stunning "Confident" songstress can be really shady.
In November 2010, Demi Lovato was accused of punching backup dancer Alex Welch in the face during a flight, forcing Lovato to leave her joint tour with the Jonas Brothers to go to rehab. What spawned the sucker punch? The Daily Mail reports that Lovato thinks Welch snitched and told tour crews that Lovato was off partying with a small group after a show.
Selena Gomez and Lovato first became pals when they both starred in Barney and Friends as children. Their friendship continued into their Disney days, with Gomez reportedly getting Lovato her Camp Rock audition. In 2010, their friendship showed its first signs of strain when a fan was on camera asking Lovato, "How's Selena?" and Lovato replied, "Ask Taylor [Swift]." The pair eventually made up and Lovato revealed that Gomez was one of the only people to contact her while she was in rehab in November 2010.
While Gomez has remained publicly diplomatic about their roller coaster friendship, when Complex asked Lovato in September 2015 if she and her Princess Protection Program buddy still talk, she simply replied, "Nope."
During a Complex interview in summer 2015, Lovato threw what many interpreted as Taylor Swift #squad shade. "I don't really hang out with celebrities," she said. "I'm not the type of person that's on Instagram posting pictures of me and tons of my best friends…I don't have anybody around me who kisses my ass."
She also spoke to Cosmopolitan, which many interpreted as Miley Cyrus shade. "There are a lot of girls in pop. They have badass lyrics, but I feel like I'm the only person other than Rihanna and Nicki Minaj who isn't afraid to say, 'Try something on me and I'll f***ing beat your a**.'" Yeah, Alex Welch knows.
In October 2015, Lovato was finalizing a deal with American Idol alum Adam Lambert for a co-headlining tour…and then she pulled the rug from under him. TMZ reports that Lovato backed out at the last minute, replacing Lambert with her labelmate and BFF, Nick Jonas. Sources close to Lambert claimed the move was totally unexpected and "very unprofessional and unethical."
It looks like that move is going to cost fans, too: Jonas and Lovato's tour packages are pricier than ever. People reports that their "Ultimate VIP Dressing Room" package has a ton of perks for $10,000…but doesn't even include an actual ticket to the concert. The VIP package's meet and greet may not even be a good experience. In November, a disappointed fan from a meet and greet wrote an angry letter to Lovato on Instagram saying that she was rushed, rude, and eager to get away from the very supporters who give her success and tons of extra money.
Lovato's Twitter beefs are endless. She continued an ongoing beef with comedienne Kathy Griffin in September 2015. She publicly and visibly unfollowed on-again, off-again BFF Selena Gomez in August 2014. Lovato lashed out at singer Pink in September 2015 after taking offense at her comments about the MTV Video Music Awards. Back in 2009, she and Miley Cyrus' older brother, Trace Cyrus, actually broke up on Twitter.
Lovato told Complex in summer 2015, "I think 'Waiting for Ya' is a pretty ballsy song…that's the song where I show you that a lot of people have their cute little feuds in public, but I don't really have those because if you want to have a feud, you can just come to me in person and we'll settle it." Right.
When Lovato was on The X Factor in 2012, she and Simon Cowell made it quite clear that there was something up with One Direction singer Niall Horan. The two insinuated that Lovato and Noran frequently Skyped together. Lovato revealed on Girl Code Live in October 2015 that she ghosted on a Skype relationship, telling the hosts, "I've actually had a situation where I think somebody had an alarm set on their phone. They would Skype me every time…I told them basically, 'Hey, I am not interested. Please leave me alone.' And then, yeah, they kind of took the hint, I guess. And then I changed my number and completely ignored them…I wasn't even dating him. That's the thing…Like, if you knew who it was…he is not a stalker."
Sure, she didn't mention any names, but if you follow Horan or Lovato at all, it's pretty clear to whom she was referring.
Lovato began dating former That '70s Show star Wilmer Valderrama in 2010. Their relationship started out tumultuously, with a lot of breakups and makeups. They seem rock solid now, and Lovato credits Valderrama with a lot of her recovery.
Still, their history is a little creepy. They began dating when she was just barely 18 to his 30, and that's been a pattern for him. Valderrama dated Mandy Moore for two years when she was just 16 to his 20 and Lindsay Lohan when she had just turned 18 to his 24. He later boasted, quite vulgarly, about his intimate relationships with both of these much younger women. It makes you wonder why Lovato thinks she doesn't deserve better—and if, at 23, she may be getting almost too old for his tastes.
Lovato prides herself on celebrating a healthy body image, especially after her public struggles with bulimia. That makes her friendships with the Kardashians questionable, as these women document their diets, their "waist training" corsets, and their obsession with cosmetic fillers constantly. It seems to completely counter Lovato's message to fans to love themselves as they are when she pals around with people who not only transform themselves with plastic surgery, but also deny it.
Lovato seems to struggle with her musical identity, because with every album, she seems to have a new sound. That would be fine, but she also insists that every new sound is who she really is. For her sophomore effort Here We Go Again, Lovato told MTV News, "It's going to take a different sound, so hopefully it goes over well. I sing a lot of rock, but this time I want to do more John Mayer-ish type of songs."
For Unbroken in 2011, Lovato told The Ralphie Radio Show, "Every other album I haven't had time to really take my time and craft it like I really wanted to…you can definitely tell that I took my time with this record." When promoting Demi in 2012, she told Billboard, "For me, Unbroken wasn't my favorite album, and this one is my favorite one so far."
