Demi Lovato's Attack on a Froyo Business is Everything Wrong With Culture Right Now

Photo courtesy of Neon Tommy at Flikr

In case you haven't noticed, Demi Lovato seems to be trying to constantly insert herself into the cultural landscape at the moment. When she's not talking about her struggles, her sexuality and her past, she's writing songs about Trump and acting like she's some kind of warrior, saying "I literally don't care if this ruins my career." Ah Demi, you're so brave, I'm sure writing a protest song about Trump is going to kill your career considering the industry you're from.

Her latest attempt at relevance and lecturing regular society occurrred just a couple of days ago at, of all things, a frozen yoghurt shop - the Bigg Chill in LA. Lovato's beef with the frozen yoghurt shop is that they had diet options there - stuff without sugar and flour. Apparently it was "triggering" for her:

"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," she wrote.

"You can carry things for other people while also caring for another percentage of your customers who struggle DAILY just to even step foot in your store. You can find a way to provide an inviting environment for all people with different needs," she wrote, adding that they should be conscious of people with eating disorders.

Lovato called the whole experience "triggering and awful" and told the business to "do better."

Oh dear god. Please Demi, do shut up.

Far from her usual woke type talking points, this incident is an example of a trend we seem to keep seeing from celebrities and the twenty something year old crowd in general. What I'm referring to is this constant insistence from many in society that the world caters specifically to their needs, no matter how deranged they might be.

So the entire problem here apparently is the fact that this business didn't consider the fact she had an eating disorder when she was younger, and the sight of diet food is triggering for her. The business responded by saying that they carried their many options for vegans, celiacs and diabetics. Unbelievably - or perhaps entirely believable in the current climate, they apologised to Lovato for her experience.

Lovato's behaviour is everything wrong with culture right now. After hearing from the business that these options were available for a reason Lovato addressed it on a video:

"It wasn't clear to me that it was for specific health needs, and so I didn't know that. I just took it as, 'OK, I'm going into a froyo shop. I'm seeing sugar-free, I'm seeing this and that. If there is a sign that 'celiac,' 'vegan,' I would've understood. That would've been clear messaging to me."

She then took it a step further, sharing one of the business's Instagram posts, advertising “guilt-free” protein cookies. “This screams diet culture and I won't be gaslit by the media or anyone else that says otherwise,” she wrote. “I don't need to feel guilt free about eating anything."

Why is her behaviour such a problem? Because it's completely self centered and entitled. Upon walking into the frozen yoghurt shop, Lovato immediately took the dietary options as a slight against her and evidence that the owners had no respect for eating disorders. Ironic considering that Lovato is one of those celebrities who breathlessly talks about how much she cares about others.

Actions speak louder than words, hmm?

Further evidence of her self indulgence and entitlement is the fact that she thinks there should have been clear messaging as to why those options were available. So newsflash Demi, a business isn't obliged to tell you why they do anything. You have the option of buying from them, or not. It's not a business's - or anyone's responsibility for that matter, to cater to you and your history of disordered eating.

If we had to accommodate every single person's triggering events from their past, we'd never be able to even leave the house.

Finally, let's talk about Lovato's incredibly high opinion of herself and self-righteousness. In a subsequent post, said she planned to call out any business that "not only enables but praises disordered eating." In that one small sentence, Lovato has given herself absolute power to decide not only when someone enables or praises disordered eating, but she gets to decide what actually constitutes disordered eating. She's already shown in this instance that she is hopelessly and hilariously off the mark.

So not only was she wrong, she was - and is, in my opinion, blindingly arrogant.

It's interesting also that this apparently was only acceptable to her when the owners said it was for people with other dietary requirements. What about the fact that I and many others steer clear of items with sugar in them as a dietary preference? Is it wrong that the business is merely offering greater choice? Of course it isn't. That doesn't matter though because as I explored above, it's all about Demi. Other, normal people don't get a say when you're as self important as she is.

What about talking to the owner? What about, in that initial conversation, instead of assuming they were enabling disordered eating, genuinely ask them why they offer those options? If the answer isn't what you want to hear, then you certainly have the right to take your business elsewhere. That's what normal people do Demi. But no, that sort of behaviour isn't enough for the virtue signalling crowd that Lovato is a part of.

Her playbook is to immediately assume it's about her, take maximum offence, and then try to damage the business by weaponising her massive follower base. It's amazing that so many celebrities call Lovato "brave" - and I have no doubt she'd refer to herself in this manner as well. Funny, considering her behaviour here is cowardly and utterly juvenile.

So Demi, if you're reading this, it might be a good idea to start examining your actions and seeing if they're consistent with all the virtuous things you seem to speak all the time. Right now you're coming across as a complete hypocrite, just another celebrity who wants to tell everyone else how to live because you're apparently the supremely virtuous and knowledgable being, while the rest of us poor regulars need to be educated.

Oh and one more thing Demi: if an Instagram post makes you feel "guilty" for eating a certain type of food, guess what? That's on you. It's not a stores' nor anyone's responsibility to make you feel safe and coddled every second of the day. Work through your own damn issues, rather than insisting the world cater to your every whim.

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