Demi Lovato apologizes for Israel trip, says she doesn't want to "choose sides"
Demi Lovato Apologizes Following Backlash Over Free Trip To Israel https://t.co/QproSiW4bS
- E! News (@enews) October 3, 2019
Follow up to this post.
After posting about a "spiritual" trip to Israel to reconnect with her religious roots, Demi Lovato faced heavy backlash and disabled her comments. She then proceeded to apologize on Instagram, stating she simply accepted a free trip and was not attempting to make a political statement:
"I'm extremely frustrated. I accepted a free trip to Israel in exchange for a few posts. No one told me there would be anything wrong with going or that I could possibly be offending anyone. With that being said, I'm sorry if I've hurt or offended anyone, that was not my intention. This was meant to be a spiritual experience for me, NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT and now I realize it hurt people and for that I'm sorry. Sorry I'm not more educated and sorry for thinking this trip was just a spiritual experience."
Later, she took to Instagram comments to state she has no knowledge of the conflicts with the Middle East and doesn't want to pick sides:
Demi Lovato replies to a fan on instagram regarding the backlash:
“I don’t have an opinion on Middle Eastern conflicts nor is it my place to have one being an American singer and you’re asking me to choose a side?” pic.twitter.com/nJaQm2ES0H
- Pop Alerts (@PopAIertNews) October 3, 2019
Following her apology, YNET reported that Demi was actually paid $150,000 by Israel to promote her trip:
The Israeli media outlet Ynet reported that Demi Lovato was paid more than $150,000 to take a trip to Israel to do PR for the colonialist apartheid regimehttps://t.co/rfKddOIcjq
- Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) October 3, 2019
In response to all the backlash, Demi called out her own fans for making her "feel worse":
Demi Lovato calls out her fans for starting the trend #WeLoveYouDemi, after backlash for praising Israel.
“How about yall stop making a hashtag saying u love me every time u realize your words affect me? Dont worry guys u made me feel terrible about it & will continue to do so” pic.twitter.com/ttJFMOQfhS
- Music News Facts (@musicnewsfact) October 3, 2019
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4