Demi Lovato insisted she didn’t mean to ‘bully a small business’ after calling out The Bigg Chill, an LA fro-yo shop, for being “#dietculturevultures.’
“Okay, so I have kind of got in the middle of something with this yogurt shop in Century City,” Demi Lovato began her apology video that she posted to Instagram on April 19. By the “middle of something,” the 28-year-old singer was referring to a feud she sparked with a popular fro-yo spot in Los Angeles called The Bigg Chill, after publicly blasting the small business for seeing all of its “sugar free cookies/other diet foods” on the store’s counter one day prior. However, Demi didn’t take issue with the store for carrying those types of products; rather, was how they were labeled that “triggered” someone who is “in recovery from an eating disorder,” which Demi explained in her apology video.
“Now, I am very outspoken about the things that I believe in. I understand that sometimes my messaging can lose its, like, meaning when I get emotional. I am human. I am somebody who is just very passionate about what I believe in and I’ve lived through enough to know when to speak up. For people who don’t have a voice,” Demi explained, in response to the backlash her original rant against The Bigg Chill — which you can see in screenshots below — had set off.
Demi also personally messaged The Bigg Chill with her concerns, which started a defensive back-and-forth exchange between the yogurt shop and singer. Demi had posted screenshots of this conversation on her Instagram Story as well, which showed the yogurt shop arguing that it carries “items for Diabetics, Celiac disease, Vegan and of course have many indulgent items as well.” Demi argued in her apology video that the store could’ve made these labels clearer to customers.
What’s your favorite internet beef rn mine is Demi lovato forgetting diabetics exist and fighting a frozen yogurt business in public pic.twitter.com/ReUd2hQMBy
— Tim the Enchanter (@deltryzi) April 18, 2021
“When I messaged this fro-yo place, like originally I wanted to make a point. And I wanted to call out behaviors or branding things that didn’t sit right with me. Because the truth of the matter is, as someone who deals with an eating disorder — is in recovery from an eating disorder — I still to this day have a hard time walking into a fro-yo shop, ordering yogurt and being content with it and keeping it down. I know that seems like not a huge deal to a lot of people, but to me it is. So by the time I got to the counter after seeing so much diet stuff and health food stuff, it wasn’t clear to me that it was for specific health needs. So I didin’t know that,” Demi admitted.
“If there was a sign that said celiac, vegan, I would have understood…because it wasn’t clear I definitely jumped to conclusions and probably shouldn’t have gone about this the way that I have,” Demi admitted. On that note, she added, “But I’m willing to talk to this fro-yo shop to help get the messaging right.”
I refuse to believe Demi Lovato is fr beefing with Bigg Chill rn 💀 she’s obv never had that vanilla custard froyo 😫 pic.twitter.com/1ip7keAMbA
— the Cornbread King (@tohar_zamir) April 19, 2021
Demi further explained why her experience at the fro-yo shop struck such a nerve. “A lot of people who have struggled with anorexia – I myself, fro-yo was something that I would go to because it was low in calories It just felt safe to me. I know that people struggle with fro-yo with eating disorders. So that’s why I’m super sensitive when I walk into a fro-yo place and I see diet stuff,” she further explained. “I’m going to be protective. I’m protective of the little girl inside of me that didn’t get that representation at a young age of someone saying all of this diet stuff is not OK. You’re work more than that. ”
Demi also touched on her past battle with drug addiction, adding, “I’m also standing up for just anyone who struggles in LA…This is a hard thing to live with on a daily basis. The thing about overcoming my…drug addictions…I can walk away from that and never touch it for the rest of my life…But I have to eat three times a day. This is something that will be with me for the rest of my life.”
Demi revealed that she ultimately left the shop and didn’t get any yogurt. Towards the end of the video, the Disney Channel alum offered an official apology by saying, “So I’m sorry that I got the messaging wrong. I’m sorry that I may have disappointed some people but I’m not coming after a small business as someone with a lot of followers…I walked into a situation that didn’t sit right with me. My intuition said speak up about this so I did and I feel good about that. What I don’t feel good about is some of the way that it’s been interpreted and how the message has gotten misconstrued over all of it.”