For Millennials. By Millennials.
Demi Lovato has revealed a lot of personal events from her life in her documentary ‘Dancing with the Devil’. The most shocking revelation has been that she was sexually assaulted the day she overdosed. Moreover, Lovato reveals that she was raped when she was 15.
Demi Lovato says she lost her virginity to rape
The actress and musician shared with the audience that she was raped when she was just 15. At the time, she was working for the Disney Channel and appeared in the popular TV show ‘Sonny With A Chance’ and movie ‘Camp Rock’.
What’s more heartbreaking is that Demi Lovato did come forward with her story of rape but the assaulter faced no consequences for their actions. Lovato didn’t identify the assaulter but reveals that she had to keep seeing this person after the incident.
In the documentary, she says:
“My MeToo story is me telling somebody that someone did this to me and they never got in trouble for it I’ve just kept it quiet because I’ve always had something to say, and I’m tired of opening my mouth.”
Furthermore, she shares details of her rape:
We were hooking up but I said – hey, this is not going any farther. And that didn’t matter to them, they did it anyways. And I internalised it and I told myself it was my fault because I still went in the room with him.”
Demi Lovato also shared that at the time, the young actors and musicians wore a ‘promise ring’. The ring was a commitment that stated they would only have sexual intercourse after marraige. That was a reason she couldn’t come forward with her rape allegation when she was 15:
“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.”
The musician will share her traumas and struggles with sexual assault, self-harm, substance abuse, and an eating disorder in her new YouTube docuseries, ‘Dancing with the Devil’.
The sexual assault on the day of her overdose
The documentary is also going to show the traumas she had to go through when she overdosed in 2018.
Detailing the events up to her overdose, Demi Lovato says that she was going out with friends. They attended a few bars and then when she returned, she met up with her drug dealer who gave her oxytocin which had traces of fentanyl.
After Demi Lovato was found unconscious at her L.A. home, she was immediately taken to the hospital.
“My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes.”
She’s also struggled with health issues as she went through three strokes and a heart attack which still has an effect on her brain.
Lovato also revealed that her drug dealer had taken advantage of her on the day of her overdose.
“When they found me, I was naked, I was blue. I was literally left for dead after he took advantage of me. When I woke up in the hospital, they asked if I 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 my overdose when I realized, ‘Hey, you weren’t in any state of mind to make a consensual decision.’ That kind of trauma doesn’t go away overnight.”
Looking back at the night of her overdose, Demi Lovato says her drug dealer literally discarded and left her. Right after this horrific incident, Lovato again relapsed with Heroin.
Moreover, struggling to cope with her sexual assault, Demi Lovato says she tried to take ‘the power back’ from her assault. In an effort to do so, she says she called him up and said she was going to have sexual intercourse with him. This was a decision she later came to regret.
Now, she is taking her power back by telling her story and not being afraid anymore. More power to Demi Lovato.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or visit their website to receive confidential support.