Demi Lovato Drug Rehab Update: X Factor Judge Talks Cocaine Addiction, Mother Admits to Ignoring Abuse Signs
X Factor judge and former Disney Channel star Demi Lovato has opened up about her past cocaine and alcohol addiction and her mother's failure to act in a new revealing interview.
During an interview on Access Hollywood, Demi revealed how she was able to continue her disease through lying and "manipulating people," which the star admits she's "very, very good at." So good, in fact, that the now 21-year-old was able to sneak cocaine onto airplanes.
"... I could hide it to where I would sneak drugs. I couldn't go without 30 minutes to an hour without cocaine, and I would bring it on airplanes," she revealed. "I would smuggle it basically and just wait until everyone in first class would go to sleep, and I would do it right there. I'd sneak to the bathroom, and I'd do it. That's how difficult it got, and that was even with somebody [with me]. I had a sober companion, somebody who was watching me 24/7 and living with me, [and] I was able to hide it from them as well."
It wasn't until she found herself chugging vodka at 9 a.m. did a 19-year-old Demi realize that she was doing more than casual partying.
"I was going to the airport, and I had a Sprite bottle just filled with vodka, and it was just nine in the morning, and I was throwing up in the car and this was just to get on a plane to go back to L.A. to the sober living house that I was staying at ... I had all the help in the world, but I didn't want it," Demi recalled.
The "Skyscraper" singer then realized that partying alone wasn't normal.
"... I had a moment where I was like, 'Oh my God ... that is alcoholic behavior. [It's] no longer, 'I'm young, and rebellious and out having fun.' It was, 'Wow, I'm one of those people ... I gotta get my shit together,'" Demi said.
Demi's mother, Dianna, admitted that she failed to act, despite seeing the signs of abuse.
"I suspected [she was using drugs]. It's like any other parent, when you see things, when you see signs you don't want to believe that's what actually going on," Dianna said. "... I didn't actually see her, so when she said, 'Oh no, There's nothing going on. I'm not using, I'm not drinking, I wasn't doing any of these things,' Why was I not to believe her?"
Dianna also said that she had an eating disorder that contributed to Demi's, which the young star says began at the age of eight or nine years old.
"I would bake cookies and then eat the whole pan," Demi said. ".... I went to just completely starving myself, and that turned into throwing up and starving myself, and it was just this crazy battle going on inside of me. It got really difficult, [and] I would throw up and it would just be blood..."
Dianna believes her own eating disorder and mental instability contributed to Demi's breakdown.
"I had a terrible eating disorder that I had for many, many years, and I didn't realize it, and I had to face up to the fact that I was suffering as well, and a lot of what [Demi] went through with an eating disorder had to do with what she had seen growing up, and I also had severe depression and ... they did an intervention with me and said, 'Mom, you need to get help.'" Dianna said
Demi's first book, Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year, chronicles her battles with depression and addiction. She will be releasing another revealing book, most likely next year.