Demi Lovato says she feels ‘survivor’s guilt’ after DMX’s reported overdose
(YouTube/TMZ/Prince Williams/Wireimage)
Demi Lovato said she was scared to hear about rapper DMX’s suspected overdose, admitting it could have been her.
DMX is currently in critical condition and in a coma after a heart attack, with unconfirmed reports suggesting his condition is the result of an overdose.
Demi Lovato was herself hospitalised in July 2018 after an overdose. Lovato later revealed in her YouTube documentary Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil that she suffered three strokes and a heart attack, and that doctors were so concerned with her condition that they believed she had “five to 10 more minutes” to live.
In a new interview with TMZ, Lovato said reports DMX may have suffered an overdose scared her and make her think about what her fate could have been.
“Anytime that I see somebody OD or even pass away that’s in the public eye, I immediately think: ‘That could have been you had you not been putting all this work into the last couple years of your life’,” Lovato said.
Lovato explained that she sometimes suffers from “survivor’s guilt”.
“You do ask yourself, ‘Why am I still here, why are others not?’,” she said.
“It’s challenging. I have to realise that every day is a day that someone else doesn’t get.
“Every day I am here on this earth is a day I count my blessings. It makes me want to live the best life I can possibly have knowing others didn’t get the chance.”
DMX was rushed to the White Plains Hospital in New York and was admitted to intensive care on 2 April. TMZ reported that the music icon, whose real name is Earl Simmons, “suffered a drug overdose” that “triggered a heart attack”.
In a statement released on Tuesday (6 April), DMX’s manager Steve Rifkind cleared up some “inaccurate information” regarding the Grammy-nominated rapper’s health. Rifkind said: “DMX is currently on life support and in a coma.
“There are multiple people with inaccurate information about his wellbeing, and it is not helpful and productive.”
Rifkind explained DMX would undergo “further tests on his brain function” on Wednesday (7 April), and the rapper’s family will “determine what’s best from there”. The statement, which was reported by The Independent, did not confirm if DMX’s condition was the result of an overdose.
Previously, DMX had been open about his substance use and spoke about entering rehab in 2019 after spending time in prison on a tax fraud conviction.
