Demi Lovato was among the speakers at the Democratic National Convention last night. (We have more coverage of the evening coming up!) Demi, who revealed her own bipolar diagnosis in 2012, has been open and honest about her battles with mental illness, an eating disorder and body image. While Demi is not my favorite person, she feuds with a lot of other celebrities and definitely has made some high profile missteps, she’s been consistent in championing the causes which are close to her. Like, very consistent. So it’s nice to see her give a speech at the DNC. Demi has been a Hillary supporter since the beginning, and told Latina magazine in May that Hillary is “the most qualified and she will get sh-t done.” Cosigned. Oh and Demi also performed “Confident.” That’s in the video above too. Here’s her speech, thanks to Bustle:
Like millions of Americans, I am living with mental illness. But I am lucky. I had the resources and support to get treatment at a top facility. Unfortunately, too many Americans from all walks of life don’t get help, either because they fear the stigma or cannot afford treatment.
Untreated mental illness can lead to devastating consequences, including suicide, substance abuse, and long-term medical issues. We can do better. Every one of us can make a difference. By getting educated on this epidemic and its frightening statistics and by breaking the stigma, I urge every politician to support laws that will provide access to better healthcare and support for everyone.
This is not about politics. It’s simply the right thing to do. I’m doing my very small part by having the treatment center that saw me through my recovery on tour with me so that at least a small group of people, even for a brief moment, have the same support that I received.
It may not be a lot but we have to believe every small action counts. I stand here today as proof that you can live a normal and empowered life with mental illness. I’m proud to support a presidential candidate who will fight to ensure all people living with mental health conditions get the care they need to live fulfilling lives.
That candidate is Hillary Clinton. Let’s make her the next president of the United States of America.
That was very well put and succinct. You could see that she was nervous but she powered through and made it about her message. It’s also thoughtful of her to bring people from her treatment facility on tour with her to assist fans who may be facing similar issues, either personally or with friends or family. I wish Demi would get out of her own way, I wish she was focus on the things that matter to her and stop arguing with other celebrities on Twitter. That’s the double edged sword of social media though, people get a platform to advance the causes that are important to them, while showing the things that are important to them, which can be incredibly petty.
After I wrote that, I googled “Demi Lovato twitter” and came up with this feud she had over Twitter just yesterday with Perez Hilton. She tweeted and then deleted “@PerezHilton do something with your life” after she DMed him for liking tweets about her feud with Mariah Carey. (Here’s the background on that.) We know this because Perez posted the DMs. He told Demi that he likes all the tweets people send him and that he’s not going to change the way he uses Twitter because Demi doesn’t like it.
Also, Demi went on a date with Odell Beckham Jr., a wide receiver for the Giants who has also been seen out with Zendaya and Khloe Kardashian. Somehow, People Mag had the details, just like the last guy Demi had a fling with, an MMA fighter. Odell doesn’t like it when dates leak to the press, he recently denied dating Khloe and said they were just caught in a flirty moment.
We can get a better representative too. One who doesn’t use her mental health issues as a justification for being an a$$. She negates her outreach with the crap she pulls the rest of the time.
As CB pointed out, she needs to get out her own way.
This girl strikes me as always needing so much attention.
There are plenty of people who live with mental illness that do not use it as an excuse every time they get called out for their actions. You can not use your struggles as a get out jail free card.
I have a chronic illness and have had a lung transplant. I don’t use that as an excuse for anything at all, even though it would be very easy to sometimes.
I like Demi. I really do.
But.
But. Sooooo many things grate on me about her. However, I’m not going to hate on her for putting herself out there for her causes.
I do find it hilarious that the ticker tape underneath her said, “one time Disney act”.
It did not?!??! Hahahahhahhhhahahahah I’m deceased 😂😂😂😂
Her voice, though. And that smile at the end… if I didn’t read this site, I wouldn’t know anything about her social media feuds, so I’m trying to view her speech and performance in that light.
I know this is a gossip site, but we all tend to forget that “mainstream” Americans don’t follow celebrity gossip very closely. Magazine covers, talk show appearances, major interviews, and public events like this one form the foundation of their opinions. If someone isn’t paying attention, Demi may very well be an excellent role model.
If someone with her body and mental health issues had been so open with her struggles and made an appearance like this in my childhood? That would have made such a difference for me. There was no one like that back then, and I’m glad kids have people like Demi now.
No, she isn’t mature or self-aware in many ways… but I doubt most kids know that. They see a Disney star loving her curves and being candid about mental illness. Can’t hate that.
Hubby & I were working out at the gym when Demi was on. I glanced at the screen confused for a second because I was like, is that Demi? Perplexed I was trying to figure out why she was at the DNC, but listening to her performance and speech was touching. It was moving and aspirational. I’m glad that she is putting this message out there, that she is willing to be a spokeswoman for a cause that needs it dearly. She is right. We can do better to help those with mental illness. So kudos for Demi despite her messy ways she is working hard to raise awareness.
scrolling quickly in the main page, i saw her picture and the word DNC and wondered:
hang on a minute, what’s Pippa doing at the convention? how odd to do a victory lap in… oh different person.
i thoroughly blame this on my blurry eyes after crying to ninjas cutting onions while i was watching Michelle’s speech.
I thought it was Pippa too. Apparently they have the same half of a face but look nothing alike when you see the whole face.
i just can’t with her. especially after reading telling the Jonas to split with his girlfriend so he can have more fun (You’re famous, have fun with girls!). I wouldn’t never in a million year tell a friend to get rid of his/her partner. I cannot take her seriously. when someone has some mental issues and yearns for stability I would think you want the same for people around you: to be loved and love.
SticKing strictly on the subject of mental illness my jaw dropped when I heard how she brought the people who helped her on tour to help others. I’m honestly a bit speechless as to how amazing that is for so many different reasons.
As someone who struggles with her mental illness I know how devastating it was when I wasn’t getting treatment. Even when I was able to function I was not well and my thoughts were harmful and consuming me. The effects of not being treated have hurt me on a personal level and now with treatment I see myself doing so many things that I was once terrified of.
We as a country truly HAVE to do better. It is in all of our interests.
Yes, this. Good on her for raising awareness on this enormous issue and for taking action.
I’m sorry you’ve had challenges like this in your life, TESE and hope that all that is fully behind you now.
Aww thank you, and you know what? Things are really looking up lately so I’m really proud of myself.
I mean, I’m glad there are people out there advocating for and speaking out on mental health. I just wish it was someone else instead of her.
Great work, Demi. A lovely performance and a great speech. YOU GO!!
Great work, Demi. A lovely performance and a great speech. YOU GO!!
Reading over the comments I see a lot of them criticizing Demi and I can’t necessarilly knock that, she does do a lot of not-smart things repeatedly, but it did make me wonder about others saying they wish they had a different advocate.
I wonder if other celebs don’t like to speak out as passionately because they don’t want to ruin their image of ‘perfection’. One thing you can say about Demi is she’s pretty vocal about her mistakes and struggles, I think that openness extends to her conversation around mental illness.
I think other celebs would be more afraid to expose their flaws as much as she has (being a singer helps).
She’s vocal because she’s trying to distract from other things she has done and is doing. She has been building this image for that purpose for years, at least since the Jonas parents bundled her onto a plane during a tour to go home after she attacked a dancer. I don’t think we can believe everything she claims about her own problems. For example, she claims to have been bullied when it has become rather obvious that she was actually the bully. But claiming she was bullied is easier and safer than admitting she has deep anger issues and lashes out at people verbally and physically. Therapy may have helped her control her physical violence, but she is still verbally attacking people every chance she gets. I am also dubious about an eating disorder being the reason she got scary thin in her teens while doing the Disney show – again, everything points to drugs as the true reason. But an eating disorder is often claimed as a socially acceptable reason, especially for actors and singers with young audiences. It is possible to have both conditions at once, of course, but her strident advocacy on that issue just doesn’t ring true to me. Loudness is often a sign of coverup and Demi is too loud.
She can still draw attention to some important things regardless, as she did in the DNC speech, but she is also deeply dishonest so take everything she says about how it applies to her with a huge bucket of salt. It’s too bad, because the real story might actually help a lot of kids struggling with similar issues.
I cringed when I heard Lovato was speaking at the DNC, especially since I think she greatly distorts her own history to promote a very false image, but she actually did fine with the speech. Helps if you know nothing about her and her typical obnoxiousness and dishonesty, but it really worked as a standalone.
And yes, she does have a very good voice – she’s not one of Disney’s autotuned wonders. The Mouse zeroed in on her because she already had a powerful talent in that regard.