Demi Lovato Reveals They Were Sexually Assaulted at 15 Years Old
This article contains accounts of sexual assault and an overdose. If you or someone you know has survived sexual abuse and would like help, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance addiction, please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
Demi Lovato has come forward publicly with two upsetting stories from their past in their new YouTube documentary, Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil. In the emotional series, Demi said she has been sexually assaulted twice: on the night of their 2018 overdose by their drug dealer, and when they were a 15 year old Disney star by another teenager. "I didn't just overdose. I was taken advantage of," Lovato said of the former. "When they found me, I was naked, blue. I was literally left for dead after he took advantage of me."
"When I woke up in the hospital, they asked if we had had consensual sex. There was one flash that I had of him on top of me. I saw that flash and I said yes. It wasn't until a month after the overdose that I realized, 'You weren't in any state of mind to make a consensual decision.'"
Speaking about 2018 led Demi to talk about being raped as a teenager for the first time publicly, saying they initially didn't come forward about the more recent assault because they were afraid of not being believed after what happened to them as a teen.
"When I was a teenager, I was in a very similar situation. I lost my virginity in a rape," they said. Demi did not name who attacked their, only saying they were "hooking up" at the time and they were not ready to lose their virginity.
"I was part of that Disney crowd that publicly said they were waiting until marriage. I didn't have the romantic first time," Lovato said. "That was not it for me—that sucked. Then I had to see this person all the time so I stopped eating and coped in other ways."
Lovato added:
"I really beat myself up for years, which is also why I had a really hard time coming to terms with the fact that it was a rape when it happened. We were hooking up but I said, 'Hey, this is not going any further. I'm a virgin and I don't want to lose it this way.' And that didn't matter to them, they did it anyways. And I internalized it, and I told myself it was my fault because I still went in the room with him. I still hooked up with him."
Disturbingly, Demi added that they did tell adults in their life about their rape, but the person who assaulted them "never got in trouble for it."
"They never got taken out of the movie they were in. But I've always kept it quiet because I've always had something to say and it's like, I don't know, I'm tired of opening my mouth. So there's the tea," they said.
After both assaults, Demi said she reacted with "textbook trauma re-enactments" by trying to "take control" of the situation by staying in contact with both people despite what they did to them. "I called that person back a month later and tried to make it right by being in control. All it did was make me feel worse," they said about their teen assault.
Now, Demi is being open about what happened to them and explained why:
“I’m coming forward about what happened to me because everyone that happens to should absolutely speak their voice if they can and feel comfortable doing so,” she added. “Women are typically more repressed than men, especially at 15 years old, and especially as a little child star role model who’s supposed to be perfect, who had a promise ring! So what—I’m supposed to come out to the public after saying I have a promise ring? Six months later, I’m supposed to say, well I had sex—even though it was rape! Some people aren’t going to see it that way.”
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil premieres for free on YouTube on March 23, 2021.
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