Demi Lovato is focused on making their opinions more clear.
As fans likely recall, the singer faced controversy and backlash in April when they took aim at a Los Angeles frozen yogurt shop, The Bigg Chill, on social media. At the time, Lovato took issue with the diet-friendly options available for purchase in the shop and did not mince words about it online.
During an Audacy Check In interview on Facebook Live on June 17, the Grammy nominee reflected on the situation. "Every time I've made a statement over Instagram or Twitter, I felt like it's gotten lost in translation a little bit," Lovato said.
While they did not name the yogurt shop, Lovato did reference an "experience" around April. "It was me talking about something I was very passionate about pertaining to the diet culture," they explained, "and I realized that because I was so passionate…I let my emotions get the best of me and it didn't allow me to explain where I was coming from as easily as it would have been on a podcast."
The 4D With Demi Lovato host continued, "I just thought going forward, I want to have conversations where people can see my face, they can hear my voice and they can see that I'm still learning as well as the rest of the world."
Lovato also acknowledged that they are by "no means an expert on many many things."
"But," they said, "I'm willing to learn about it and I'm willing to continue to have conversations that either educate me or others on how to make this world a better place."
Two months ago, Lovato called out The Bigg Chill on their Instagram Story, writing to their millions of followers, "Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from @thebiggchillofficial when you have to walk past tons of sugar free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter. Do better please." Lovato also included #dietculturevultures, which they said they would use to call out "harmful messaging from brands or companies that perpetuate a society that not only enables but praises disordered eating."
The Bigg Chill defended itself to Lovato, seemingly responding in a direct message, "We are not diet vultures. We cater to all of our customers needs for the past 36 years. We are sorry you found this offensive." The shop also clarified that it carries "items for Diabetics, Celiac disease, Vegan and of course have many indulgent items as well."
Lovato later suggested to the shop that "maybe it would help if you made it more clear that the sugar free options and vegan options are for that. Labeling the snacks for celiac or diabetes or vegans. When it's not super clear, the messaging gets confusing and being in LA it's really hard to distinguish diet culture vs health needs."
The star, who has been open about their own eating disorder struggles, later apologized for getting the "messaging wrong," but "I'm not coming after a small business as someone with a lot of followers," Lovato said in an Instagram Live. "That's not what I'm doing here. I walked into a situation that didn't sit right with me, my intuition said speak up about this, so I did and I feel good about that. What I don't feel good about is some of the way that it's been interpreted and how the message has gotten misconstrued over all of it."
As Lovato put it, "People with eating disorders should be able to go in and feel safe wherever they go to eat—that's all I'm asking."