This morning, Demi Lovato released the trailer for her upcoming documentary, Demi Lovato: Dancing With The Devil. Promising to ‘set the record straight’ about her 2018 overdose, the trailer features interviews with her friends shocked at how open Demi intends to be - including references to heroin use, pretending to be sober and how her childhood fame from Barney and Friends led to her a life struggling with addiction.
The documentary, premiering on March 23rd on YouTube, also details the aftermath of her drug overdose, because of which she says she had three strokes, a heart attack and lasting brain damage that left her struggling to read or drive.
Since the trailers release, ‘Demi Lovato Dancing With The Devil’ has begun trending on Google, with people searching for ‘Demi Lovato what drugs’, ‘what did Demi Lovato overdose on 2018’ and ‘what was Demi Lovato addicted to’. People are also very interested in seeing her in Barney, with ‘Demi Lovato Barney and Friends pictures’ also trending.
For your information, Demi Lovato’s acting career began on Barney and Friends in 2002 when she was just 10 years old. Her overdose, which came after six years of sobriety, was reported to be from oxycodone laced with fentanyl, both opioids used for pain medication. In 2011, oxycodone was the leading cause of drug-related deaths in the US however from 2012 onwards, heroin and fentanyl – which are often mixed for recreational use – have become more common causes of drug-related deaths.
Of course, while intrigue in Demi Lovato’s history with addiction is expected, the obsession with finding out what drugs in particular she was on perhaps shouldn’t be the main conversation to be having about the documentary. Because, this is the second exposé in less than a month that shows how deeply corrupting fame can be. That’s what we should be talking about.
In the past year alone, Paris Hilton has opened up about her unhealthy relationship with fame after childhood trauma, we have seen Britney Spears battle with obsessive celebrity culture in 'Framing Britney Spears' and now, Demi Lovato is to shed further light on what our favourite noughties stars were really going through behind the scenes.
How much don’t we know about the traumas of other celebrities?
It begs the question, how much don’t we know about the traumas of other celebrities thrust into the spotlight by our idolisation of their entertainment value? Because, while celebrities may seek publicity in some arenas, it’s the way the public receives and responds to celebrity culture that gives fame the propensity to be toxic for certain individuals.
We’re yet to hear the real stories of childhood stars like Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes or Macaulay Culkin. Likelihood is our opinions about fame would be further changed. And it’s particularly important to have these conversations now, at a time when 54% of young people would become an influencer given the opportunity, according to a report by research firm Morning Consult.
Of course, traditional celebrity and social media fame are very different – but the pressure to be perfect remains the same, particularly online.
Of 11-16 year olds in Britain, one in five children want to be a social media influencer when they grow up – according to global affiliate network, Awin. It was the second most popular profession kids aimed for, YouTuber coming third, with only Doctor proving more popular.
You can see why – not only do many wrongly perceive social media influencing to be an ‘easy’ job, but with so few opportunities to find success in other job markets (let’s be honest, Gen-Z have a worse end of the deal than millennials when it comes to financial security, and that’s saying something.) it’s easy to understand that social media success would be alluring.
For traditional celebrities, fame is a by-product of their talent whereas for influencers, it's what they rely on.
But the difference between traditional celebrities and social media influencers is, they’re famous by virtue of being notably talented at something the public value – i.e. acting, singing or providing some other form of traditional entertainment. Fame is a by-product of their success because we idolise people in the entertainment industry, whereas social media influencers are completely reliant on fame – or at least, popularity and public validation – to keep making money.
So, unlike actors or singers, when the public turns on them in some way or they face the pressures that come with being a 'role model', they can’t throw themselves into their work in other ways or rely on an upcoming award, album or film to change their reputation – they have to soldier on. It's important to note that we're not necessarily talking about cancel culture here, or when an influencer does something wrong publicly, but the daily pressures people in the public eye face by virtue of being well-known - be that the expectation to be a perfect role model, combatting discrimination or feeling unable to open up about mental illness for fear of losing opportunities.
All the while, many people don’t actually respect their form of popularity as an influencer, they don’t see them as ‘talented’ because they’re not in traditional entertainment industries – despite the fact they’re still entertaining us or providing lifestyle advice in some form.
What all of this is to say is that, young people are striving for a profession where fame is their best possible option for success – meanwhile traditional celebrities are crying out about how toxic fame is. And we need to listen to them now, not just because more children want to be in a profession based on public validation, but because of how fame has changed thanks to our more virtual world.
One would hope that the way we treat people in the public eye has moved on from the noughties. It’s clear that the handling of celebrities mental health issues by the tabloids, like Britney’s for example, would not be tolerated in today’s media – or at least, we like to believe. But now, celebrities are more accessible than ever on social media, does the abundance of trolling and the lack of critical thought in cancel culture only add to the pressure they typically face?
In 2021, it’s not hard to imagine that a popstar on the rise would not only face pressures from management – ‘to be an icon’, as Demi’s friends say in her documentary – but the public too. Because, at the touch of a button, millions of people are watching their every move, waiting to judge not just their public persona, but their personal life too.
With revelations like Demi’s, we should be considering these inside looks at what celebrities lives are really like as a wake-up call. Not only should it compel everyone to be kinder online, so as to better protect those catapulted into fame now, but also help younger people question – is a profession dependent on public validation and fame really what you want?
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