Demi Lovato says overdose happened because they ‘ignored their truth’ after coming out as non-binary
Demi Lovato in their new podcast 4D. (Screen capture via YouTube/Demi Lovato)
Demi Lovato has said that their near-fatal drug overdose stemmed from them “ignoring” their truth, after coming out as non-binary.
Lovato, 28, triumphantly revealed they are non-binary Wednesday morning (19 May), stating that their pronouns are they/them. To Lovato, coming out means that they have “found life possible to live again”.
And in the first episode of their podcast 4D, the “Sorry Not Sorry” hitmaker said that the 2018 overdose that left them with brain damage stemmed from them suppressing who they are.
They told Alok Vaid-Menon: “In 2018, when I overdosed, I feel like the reason why that happened was because I was ignoring my truth.
“I was suppressing who I really am in order to please stylists or team members or even fans that wanted me to be the sexy feminine pop star in a leotard and look a certain way, I thought that was what I was supposed to be.
“Now I realise it’s so much more important to live your truth than to ever suppress yourself because that’s the type of stuff that happens when you do.”
Lovato, who has long been candid about their struggles with substances in their confessional music, was hospitalised after overdosing opioids laced with fentanyl in July 2018. It was only a month after dropping the song “Sober”, a wrenching number where they detailed a recent relapse after six years of sobriety.
In their documentary, Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, they revealed that they had “three strokes” due to the overdose.
“I had a heart attack,” they explained. “My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes.”
Demi Lovato didn’t come out as non-binary for attention
Demi Lovato beamed as they explained their “joy” in coming out as non-binary on 4D.
Reflecting on how turbulent the last few years have been for them, Lovato vowed to live their truth “to the fullest” and be as “loud” as they can be about it.
But for those who feel they might be doing this for “attention”, they simply brushed their critics aside.
“I could leave my career today,” Demi Lovato said, “I’m still going to identify as non-binary tomorrow.
“For the first time in my life, I’m putting my wellbeing before my career, and that’s the difference in somebody, I guess, doing something for attention versus somebody speaking their truth, in that I know that not everybody is going to love that this is me and this is my truth.
“I know that it’s going to make some people react out of fear. I know that it’s going to make some people question their own lives and their own situations.
“Like I said, I have compassion for them. But this is my truth and I can’t shove it down or suppress it any longer because I’ll end up where I did a few years ago.
“And I never want to end up there again.”
