Demi Lovato accused of having double standards after ‘promoting Diet Dr Pepper’

Demi Lovato is feeling the heat from some after being spotted with a Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar microphone - weeks after criticizing a frozen yogurt shop for promoting diet culture.

Lovato—who identifies with they/them pronouns—criticized the Los Angeles-based frozen yogurt shop The Bigg Chill because they believed that the shop promoted “harmful messaging” about diet culture.

They have publicly spoken about their battle with eating disorders in the docu-series Demi Lovato: Dancing With The Devil.

Despite this, while at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on May 27, Lovato held a Dr.Pepper Zero Sugar branded microphone while being interviewed.

As a result, some people on social media, especially on Twitter, believed this contradicted their previous stance and tried to call them out for what seemed to be a double standard.

“So Demi Lovato went on a whole rant about diet culture a month ago just for them to be promoting a SUGAR FREE Dr. Pepper? So is diet culture okay only when it gives you money, Demi? This is why people are failing to take them more seriously because this is just hypocritical,” a tweet read.

Another tweet said the following: “They tried to shut down a locally run yogurt shop just because having sugar-free options triggered them. If sugar-free food really triggers them that much then they should personally try and cancel Dr. Pepper as well.”

But others in the comments defended Lovato, arguing that it’s just a microphone.

“I don’t like Demi either, but this is just ridiculous; who cares? They aren’t a hypocrite. They were being interviewed. I doubt they even knew what was written on the mic. It’s not like they were going to refuse to do the interview just cuz of the mic,” read a comment.

A representative for Lovato spoke to Page Six, saying they were doing a promotional stop for the awards show and “they’ve apologized for comments made weeks ago and have moved on to focus on their cause work in the area of eating disorder awareness and Pride.”

In late April, Lovato spoke out against The Bigg Chill over seemingly promoting diet culture because they offered sugar-free products.

In an Instagram Story at the time, Lovato said: “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.”

Essentially, if someone is constantly reminded about the “sugar-free” or “guilt-free” option, it could be triggering, while someone else might be ecstatic to know because it fits their needs and wants. It’s how the world works, and everyone isn’t always going to agree on the same things.