Demi Lovato is known for speaking her mind, and has been praised for being outspoken and bluntly honest about her personal life. However, the 25-year-old singer has recently come under fire for a now-deleted tweet in which she described a problematic "prank" she pulled on her security guard.
On the morning of June 3, Lovato used Twitter to answer random questions about herself from her fans. At first, they were harmless—ranging from her opinions on pasta to her favorite wild animal.
Things quickly turned controversial though, when she was asked about the funniest prank she had ever pulled on someone. She responded by describing a prank she pulled on her bodyguard. "I hired a lady of the night in Vegas and sent her to Max's hotel room to surprise him," she said. "She walked into his room without permission and grabbed him in his "area" and he freaked the fuck out hahahaha."
Lovato's response did not go over well with numerous Twitter users, many of whom described the stunt Lovato pulled as sexual assault and sharing their disgust regarding the incident. The 25-year-old singer then addressed the backlash and criticism through a series of tweets. "I swear I could tweet something about craving jelly beans and it would offend someone." Lovato wrote.
In another tweet, she said, "For all of those coming at me right now, listen to the lyrics of Warrior and maybe you’ll have more compassion for someone who made a simple mistake. Of all people I know about sexual abuse. You don’t have to educate me." She later concluded her remarks by saying, "So sorry if anyone was offended."
Despite these statements, many people were still not happy with how she brushed off what appeared to be well-deserved backlash surrounding her original Q&A response.
Although her song "Warrior," tackles sexual abuse, it does not take away from the fact that she posted something that goes completely against what she claims to be educated about. As many people pointed out, her tweet reduced and lessened the sexual abuse suffered by some men. One fan expressed their disappointment perfectly, "I am a fan of Demi Lovato, but I am saddened by her actions that recently came to light. Sexual assault is nothing to joke about or take lightly. And just because she may be a victim herself, it doesn’t excuse her actions."
Consent is necessary and always needed from the other party, whether it's "just a prank" or not. Hopefully, Lovato learns from this and considers the role she played in something that may have seemed harmless on the surface, but was actually the complete opposite.