Demi Lovato got vulnerable about a part of her past that she regrets, which is how she treated her Disney costars during her time starring in the Camp Rock films and TV series Sonny With a Chance. The 31-year-old singer-songwriter sat down in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, published on August 14, 2024, to talk about the guilt she carries from her early days of stardom and the toll that being a child actress eventually took on her mental health.
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Demi described fame as a child as 'traumatic.'
Demi opened up about how she couldn't remember much after the first Camp Rock because she blocked out a lot of things. “I think I’d passed the threshold of what I could withstand emotionally and physically,” she said. “And I didn’t realize that child stardom could be traumatic — and it isn’t traumatic for everyone, but for me, it was.”
She feels guilty for how she treated people.
The trauma she experienced led her to treat people poorly, and now she holds guilt over how she was during her time with Disney. “I think about people in the wardrobe department on my TV show because I’d go in there in bad moods all the time, and I worry about guest stars that came on or the other actors or the people during Camp Rock 2,” she said. “And it’s easy to excuse that behavior because I was so young and in so much pain, but I’m really remorseful, and that’s a guilt that stays with you forever.”
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Demi sat down with one of her 'Camp Rock' costars.
Alyson Stoner, who uses they/them pronouns, was the only Camp Rock star who agreed to be part of Demi's upcoming documentary, Child Star, which takes a deep dive into her early days of fame and uncovers some realities about child stardom. They initially weren't going to be a part of the project, stating that it was “inordinately challenging" working with the "Heart Attack" singer on Camp Rock 2. The former costars ended up having a private sit-down first, which Alyson said was ultimately "healing."
Alyson described how it was working with Demi.
During their conversation, Alyson recalled what it was like working with Demi on the 2010 sequel and the tour. “I remember a sense of walking on eggshells,” they said. “There was definitely a lot of fear of a blowup.” Demi did end up punching a backup dancer, which led her to withdraw from the tour and enter rehab.
Demi said a lot of her behavior came from substance abuse.
Demi says her substance use disorder, eating disorder, and mental health struggles started as a teen when she was working for Disney. “They always said, ‘If you use, you’re out,’ and I was like, ‘Alright, time to get out, bye,’” she said in a 2022 interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “I’ve learned a lot from that experience. No one can control me anymore.”
