Demi Lovato says she was raped at the age of 15
Singer-songwriter Demi Lovato says she was raped at the age of 15 by someone she knew, while still working for the Disney Channel.
Lovato spoke about the assault and made other revelations in docu-series Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, which premiered virtually at the SXSW Festival.
In the series, she said she told someone about the assault, but the rapist “never got taken out of the movie they were in” and she had to “see them all the time” even after the attack. This raises some serious questions for Disney Channel to answer, but the company has yet to release any statements on the docu-series.
She felt it was best to not name her assaulter, and did not disclose their identity.
"When I was a teenager, I was in a very similar situation. I lost my virginity in a rape," she said in the docu-series.
She acknowledged that she and her alleged attacker had been “hooking up” at the time, but says she had also made it clear that she was not ready.
She elaborated, "I was part of that Disney crowd that publicly said they were waiting until marriage. I didn't have the romantic first time. 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 was subjected to another sexual assault on the morning of her near-fatal drug overdose in 2018. She was found “blue and naked” after she was “taken advantage of and left for dead”, in her own words.
In a new tell-all YouTube Original four-part docu-series on the troubled life of the now 28-year-old child star, she leaves no rock unturned. From her troubles with childhood fame, poor management and undue stress, to her destructive relationship with drugs amounting to three strokes, a heart attack and significant brain damage and the six years of sobriety that followed — she wants to talk about it all.
The first two episodes of the series will premiere on YouTube on March 23.
