Demi Lovato Referenced the Jonas Brothers, "Camp Rock" in "I Love Me" Music Video
After a tumultuous few years that included a drug overdose and a team that once "controlled" her, Demi Lovato is celebrating her grand return to music. The pop star is back, and perhaps stronger than ever, paying homage to self-love and all that she's been through with the release of her new video and single, "I Love Me."
Speaking to Apple Music ahead of the video's release, Demi had called the single an anthem, saying, "It talks about how hard we are on ourselves and this, the negative self-talk. You know, how easily we can listen to that. But when is loving yourself gonna be enough?”
Released early Friday morning, the video has Demi reflecting on the importance of loving yourself. In "I Love Me," she fights with different versions of herself in a bedroom, before coming outside, reborn in a red coat, to revisit the timeline of her life in the spotlight. She makes her way down the street (in extremely "La La Land" fashion) as glimpses of previous iterations of Demi appear. Contemplating her years of comparing herself to everyone else and never feeling comfortable with the person she was, Demi appears to find herself throughout the visuals, using a number of background characters and stirring images to examine her history.
As one YouTube commenter pointed out, "I Love Me" contains not-so-subtle references to everything from her time on Camp Rock to her release of Confident. Along with dodging a trio that looks suspiciously like the Jonas Brothers, Demi also pauses at one point to reach her hand out to someone on a stretcher being placed on an ambulance. And as many fans have noted, the emotive visual is a nod to Demi's own overdose and hospitalization.
Another Twitter user compiled a list of additional references, including a bride and groom passing by that might represent Demi's recently engaged ex-boyfriend, along with a shot of two young girls who are possibly intended to signify Demi and her younger sister.
While the true intentions of each reference remain a secret that only Demi knows, one fan speculated the Jonas Brothers scene was intended to show each group moving forward. "I see this as a reference to demi and the jonas brothers going in different ways and they're all just doing what is good for them and look at smile she gave them, she's happy for them she remembers the good times they had and they're happy so let them be," a fan wrote. Another fan argued that the inclusion of the Brothers was intended to signify that they had "left her when she needed them the most," while this fan theorized that she was looking back on that period with pride.
As fans know, Demi and the Jonas Brothers go way back to their Camp Rock days — Demi even briefly dated Joe Jonas back in 2010. She then maintained a good friendship with Nick Jonas, a friendship that appeared to fall apart around 2018/2019; she didn't attend his wedding to Priyanka Chopra.
Ultimately, only Demi is the one to know what she meant with each small reference, but one thing is certain, it's definitely great to have her back, and to see her doing so well. Here's hoping we get a full album of Demi hits soon.
Check out the video for "I Love Me" below:
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