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It all started innocently enough, when a bored Demi Lovato asked her followers to throw some questions at her after her show Saturday night. "Let's do a Q&A" she tweeted excitedly. One since-deleted response didn't sit well even with a large segment of her own fanbase, though, leading to an immediate backlash from the online community.
Lovato answered a bunch of questions without incident, like what word she overused during a phase in her life (Answer: savage), favorite curse word (Samantha Bee knows this one), and whether or not she is in love (Answer: she wishes). Most of her answers were short and sweet, but then she took the time to detail the "funniest prank" she'd ever pulled.
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View Story"I hired a lady of the night in Vegas and sent her to Max's hotel room to surprise him. She walked into his room without permission and grabbed him in his 'area' and he freaked the f-ck out hahahahaha," Lovato tweeted (the tweet has since been deleted). To many of her fans, and ultimately to Twitter at large, this wasn't funny at all.
Lovato first made light of the offense, tweeting, "I swear I could tweet something about craving jelly beans and it would offend someone." This only led to more backlash, and so early Sunday morning she followed it up with a more vehement defense of her character, calling the whole thing "a simple mistake."
For all of those coming at me rn, 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.
@ddlovato
So sorry if anyone was offended 😔
@ddlovato
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View StoryEven Max Lea, the guy in the story, jumped on Twitter to defend Lovato, responding to her tweet apologizing if anyone was offended.
I WAS NOT https://t.co/LcmfgoErHY
@2Maxx22
When one user tweeted in her defense, "Baby...... we know you and your story," Lovato cryptically replied, "That' just the thing... people DON'T know my full story.."
Lovato was dragged hard for the prank, though she also had plenty of supporters who came out in her defense. This led to a minor tweet-war of sorts between the hashtags #DemiLovatoIsOverParty and #WeLoveYouDemi. See some of the reactions below.
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View Storydid you think this wasn't offensive? lmaoooo you're a joke pic.twitter.com/752JJEeyEW
@screamingcoIors
I'm... not okay with this. Like, this is legitimately a shitty thing to do. That is sexual harassment on Demi's part, and sexual assault on the the other woman's part. I am beyond disgusted by this. https://t.co/6dhBpk09Ac
@liz0stone
What I learnt today:
@flavlesswift
According to Demi Lovato a sexual assault against a man is funny.
CAN WE ALL UNDERSTAND IN 2018 THAT A SEXUAL ASSAULT AGAINST A MAN IS NOT A NORMAL THING AND WE SHOULDN'T LAUGHT ABOUT IT??
NEWS: A MAN HAS FEELINGS TOO, A MAN CAN BE SEXUAL ASSAULTED TOO.
#WeLoveYouDemi. This has all been blown way out of proportion. Yes, Demi's wording was of poor choice but the prank itself was innocent and just a bit of fun. We love you @ddlovato and we'll never stop protecting you from the haters. 💓💓💓
@DemiTourCentral
you literally tweeted about someone being sexually assaulted people have a right to be offended
@bellarkestrut
Are you perfect guys ? No. NOBODY's perfect. EVERYONE makes mistakes. LEAVE Demi ALONE.#WeLoveYouDemi
@flower_lovato
Let me say it louder: ASSAULT IS ASSAULT!!!!! Statistics show you're most likely to be assaulted by someone you know. I cant even imagine hiring someone to do the worst thing you can do to another human being and claim it's a prank? MEN CAN BE ASSAULTED TOO!! This isn't (+) https://t.co/4I1y2NX6Lf
@iwishtaywould
Demi Lovato is getting more hate then the women who actually committed the sexual assault... and that's why twitter stans are fake woke
@BlazinbombsheII
So she hired someone to walk into someone's room and sexually assault him. Okay girl. https://t.co/cwqwMjXAQa
@jwickhyoung
Ya'll bullied Demi into admitting something she wasn't ready to come out with yet. How does that make you any better than what all of you are trying to excuse her of doing?
@daddy_lovato
💀 Demi Lovato was really out here dragging Taylor Swift for donating money instead of taking to social media(as if Taylor wasn't embroiled in her own sexual assult lawsuit), only for Demi to take to social media & brag about using money to facilitate sexual assault as a "prank". pic.twitter.com/g8aPdw1Cc8
@NewRosalinde_A
Demi Lovato joking about sexual harassment is the reason we need shows like 13RW #DemiLovatoIsOverParty pic.twitter.com/1kOkHUCPX0
@Revivalmanias
So @ddlovato Demi Lovato said the wrong thing and some of her fans have turned against her.
@FierceJersey
😑😑😑
This is why @Beyonce doesn't tweet, doesn't do interview, doesn't care about the publicity because you can't always say the perfect things in this judgemental age. #welovedemi pic.twitter.com/SFFrPEKrCi
This is what I wake up to? Demi Lovato thinking sexual assault is funny and that she can prank someone like that? Y'all won't see one prediction about her anymore, literally cancelled and how can she compare sexual assault to jelly beans? What the fuck is wrong with that girl? pic.twitter.com/uyftDwjdbE
@2018thoughts
Nah this 👏ain't👏it👏 Demi Lovato. If you're gonna tweet that mess and still find it funny in 2018 then the backlash is justified. You don't get a pass pic.twitter.com/fDgalsBCAT
@NewRosalinde_A
i'm not a demi lovato stan but demi having to reveal on twitter that she was sexually assaulted in the past all because people thought she was laughing about sexual assault is so wrong. #WeLoveYouDemi
@velezftjoel
Imagine a man saying what Demi Lovato said, everyone would cancel him in 2 minutes.
@inmybloodb
Demi was sexually abused ??? And people still attacking her, oh my god, my heart is melting #WeLoveYouDemi
@demionradio
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