In a photo which surfaced online, the 'Heart Attack' hitmaker is seen holding a microphone with Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar's logo on it during the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
- Jun 3, 2021
AceShowbiz - Demi Lovato has landed in hot water for inadvertently promoting zero sugar-branded soda. After they launched a tirade against frozen yogurt a little over a month ago, the "Heart Attack" hitmaker, who just came out as non-binary, received backlash online after holding a microphone with Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar's logo on it during the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards.
On May 27, the "Sorry Not Sorry" singer walked the red carpet of the awards show, which one of the sponsors was Dr. Pepper Zero Sugar. At one point, the 28-year-old star was photographed holding a microphone featuring the diet soda's logo for an interview. Though a rep has told Page Six that they were just "doing a promotional stop for the awards show as a good partner to iHeart," many critics on Twitter were quick to call them out over it.
One critic pointed out that Demi "sure is ok with attacking diet culture unless the diet culture lines her pockets" and encouraged their fans to "stop trying to defend an unhinged adult woman." Another tweeted, "Oh the irony…holding a microphone with Dr Pepper zero logo after she tried to destroy a frozen yogurt place for having sugar free options." A commenter also added, "Weren't you there to promote sugar free dr. Pepper after trying to get a place shut down for serving diet Froyo?"
"Lol so NOW she can pose with a zero sugar drink?" a fourth Twitter user chimed in. In the meantime, the fifth wrote, "Why do yall love someone who tries destroying a small business cause they had sugar free cookies yet was ok with a DP 0 sugar mic? [They seem] like a hypocrite who is only ok with sugar free if that sugar free is giving [them] money."
The critics were referring to the time Demi criticized a Los Angeles-based frozen yogurt shop The Bigg Chill on social media for calling their sugar-free cookies "diet" options back in April. At the time, they said that seeing the "diet" label in the store was "triggering and awful." They penned a message that read, "Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from [The Bigg Chill] when you have to walk past tons of sugar-free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter. Do better please."
Demi even begged the fro-yo shop to label their diet products more inclusively, saying, "I was thinking, maybe it would help if you made it more clear that the sugar free options and vegan options are for that. Labeling the snacks for celiac or diabetes or vegans." The pop star continued reasoning, "When it's not super clear, the messaging gets confusing and being in LA it's really hard to distinguish diet culture vs health needs. I think clearer messaging would be more beneficial for everyone."
The feud concluded after Demi released an apology video on April 19. In the clip, they claimed that it wasn't clear the products were meant to be inclusive for people with specific health needs, and they admitted that they jumped to conclusions.
