Lovato admits that she had kept her increasingly dangerous and heavy use of heroin and crack cocaine a secret from her loved ones. On July 23rd, , she had been out with friends bar hopping. After the bars, they all came back to her house and partied until a. At that point, she had told her friends she would be going to bed but instead called one of her dealers to come over. On the morning of July 24th, Lovato was discovered by her now-former assistant Jordan Jackson, covered in her own vomit.
The 24 hours after Lovato overdosed proved to be harrowing. The strokes left her with brain damage and blind spots in her vision, so she can no longer drive.
She also experienced pneumonia from her asphyxiation and multiple organ failures. When she first woke up, she was legally blind. As Lovato admits, she was not purposefully aiming to overdose that night.
She believed that because she was smoking heroin and not injecting it, she had a lower chance of overdoing. If Lovato had been discovered 10 minutes later, she may not have survived. Jackson knocked on the door repeatedly, thinking that Lovato just wanted to sleep in or needed some privacy. When Jackson realized they may be late for the appointment, she finally entered the room. Lovato reveals that if Jackson had waited even five to 10 minutes longer to wake her up, she may not have survived.
She only tried crack and heroin because she had previously enjoyed the combination of uppers and downers. Lovato explains that her cocktail of choice when she first battled addiction had been cocaine and Xanax.
Her friend and former sober companion Sirah adds that oftentimes addicts return to a harsher bottom than where they had previously been when they relapse, chasing a bigger high. Lovato believes she had been sexually assaulted by her dealer that night. All she remembered was a flash of her dealer on top of her but has since come to realize that she was in no state to consent to sex with anyone.
As concerned fans of Lovato attempted to piece together what happened to the pop star, blame was placed on those closest to her. Sirah faced death threats both online and outside of her home. Choreographer Dani Vitale faced the most intense scrutiny and online harassment, however. Vitale received thousands of messages a day on social media telling her to kill herself and to stay away from Lovato. The ensuing blame resulted in Vitale losing teaching gigs, clients, and privacy as TMZ would follow her relentlessly.
Scooter Braun initially did not want to take Lovato on as a client. Following the overdose, Lovato settled down in a rehab center to detox and get well. She reached out to her longtime business manager Glenn Nordinger with the request to hire Scooter Braun Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato to manage her career.
But after meeting with Lovato, he realized that he had to take her on as a client. The overdose was not the last time Lovato touched heroin. Upon re-entering her life post-rehab, she re-connected with the same dealer she had bought drugs from before.
When Lovato was 15, she was hooking up with someone who took their physical relationship further than she was ready for, even after she said no. Lovato has said she finds public transparency to be liberating. More than anything, she and her documentarians have said over the years, the pop star wants to combat the sense of shame surrounding mental-health issues of all sorts: self-harm, eating disorders, addiction, anxiety, depression. Read: Demi Lovato makes a powerful confession at the Grammys.
Still, it might be time for a check-in on the efficacy of the watchword destigmatization , at least as rendered by recent pop culture into escalating games of show-and-tell. Social media, the means by which people so often share their pain, is also the source of a lot of that pain, and Dancing With the Devil demonstrates how celebrities experience a jumbo version of that feedback loop.
Lovato has repeatedly stepped onstage to share her scars, and the ensuing attention of fans, friends, and business associates has taken its own toll. In other words: Danger sells—even on the Disney Channel, and even in the motivational-pop economy that many child stars graduate into. Addiction is a sad constant of music history, but unlike a Lou Reed or an Amy Winehouse, Lovato projects an image of optimism and transcendence.
The depth of what she seems to be overcoming makes her ballads soar. Even in the most harrowing interview moments of Dancing With the Devil , Lovato is sanguine, charming, and solutions-oriented. Animated introductory sequences soundtracked by her gauzy music—plus one interlude featuring cartoon butterflies—add to the sense that dark truths are being alchemized into nourishing entertainment.
Her candor certainly defies the often sexist expectations for pop stars to maintain airbrushed personas. This year has, for example, seen renewed attention to the mids trials of Britney Spears. She arrived as a teen singer with an ultra-polished image—but the media saw a more delicious spectacle in her dropping the facade and needing health interventions. The difference is that Lovato is in charge of telling her story and monetizing the shock.
Spears rebelled by shaving her head as paparazzi lenses invaded past salon curtains. In Dancing With the Devil , Lovato slices off her long mane and smiles at the cameraperson she invited. After all, as the documentary shows, she has claimed sobriety in the past while using drugs. She seems in control of the narrative. She is a formidable presence, squarely staring at the camera as she recalls a difficult childhood as the daughter of an addict, her struggles with bulimia , the pressure to be a role model, substance abuse and, of course, her near-fatal OD.
In two traumatic sexual experiences — being sexually assaulted by a boyfriend at age 15 and being taken advantage of by the drug dealer who sold her drugs on the night she overdosed — Lovato explains how she tried to wrest control of her rape narrative — by revisiting these men and initiating sex with them.
This moment in the documentary is vitally significant, as unfortunately society still does not understand how victims of sexual trauma process the violence done to them.
For Lovato and many people who suffer from trauma and addiction, making poor decisions can often feel like regaining control or even surviving. Patricia Grisafi, Ph. She lives in New York City with her husband, son and two rescue pit bulls. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.
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