Demi Lovato Says “There Have to Be Protections in Place” For Child Stars
“It just scares me to hear that these kids are making tens of millions of dollars.”
Demi Lovato is advocating for child stars in an upcoming documentary marking the singer's directorial debut.
On Thursday, Sept. 5, the official trailer for Lovato's Hulu documentary Child Star was released, featuring a number of Hollywood A-listers including Drew Barrymore, Kenan Thompson, Christina Ricci, Raven Symone, and Jojo Siwa.
In the film, the actors, actresses and performers address and reflect on their own lives growing up under the Hollywood spotlight as child stars.
In the film, Lovato advocates for protections for young people working in the entertainment industry, saying that as a child star herself she knew that "everyone wanted to make it in the industry at a young age."
"It just scares me to hear that these kids are making tens of millions of dollars," the singer said. "There have to be protections put in place."
In one particularly heartbreaking clip and voiceover, Lovato discusses a so-called "suicide petition" she claims the "popular girls" in the industry signed, urging the young child star to end her own life.
"The popular girls signed a suicide petition saying that I should kill myself," she explained. Other Hollywood A-listers discussed their first experiences with alcohol, drug, and substance abuse, and all at a young age. Others touched on their financial vulnerability, claiming that there was "nothing left" for them.
When asked on camera if all of it was worth it, Lovato said: "I wouldn't end up where I am had I not made all the choices leading up to this point."
"But it came at a price," she added.
A part of that price, assumedly, is Lovato's public struggle with substance abuse. In 2018, following a relapse, Lovato became addicted to cocaine and heroin. That same year, she overdosed after taking drugs laced with fentanyl and nearly lost her life after suffering several drug-related strokes and a heart attack.
Demi Lovato
In a previous interview on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live, Lovato opened up about her accidental and near-fatal overdose, and what it cost her and continues to cost her to this day.
"I wouldn’t change my path because I don’t have any regrets. When I think about things, the closest thing that I get to a regret is when I overdosed," she said at the time.
"I wish that somebody had told me one: that I was beautiful, because I didn’t believe it. And two: I wish that someone would have told me that if you just sit with the pain it passes—that you don’t have to use over it," she continued. "That overdose caused me a lot of…it actually caused a disability—I have vision impairment and hearing impairment to this day."
