After TMZ had reported on Demi Lovato’s relapse, there were media crews scrambling to get quick clicks on articles with aerial views of her home, recordings of her 911 phone call and photos of any family or celebrities that visited her at the hospital. However, few people in the media and viewers of these articles have not stopped to wonder how the media might be negatively affecting her.
Addiction is no easy battle and is an ongoing struggle. It’s a journey for those that suffer from the disease. There have been misconceptions about how addiction is not even a disease, which are completely false. Addiction is no different than any other disease.
Lovato is someone who is battling a drug addiction and has just gone through one of the most traumatic events of her life. But being a celebrity does mean carrying baggage and that baggage is the media and paparazzi. Paparazzi have been notoriously known to stalk, question and annoy celebrities for the quick buck that they call a living. She might be a celebrity but that does not mean she is not entitled to privacy during this time in her life.
Likewise, other celebrities have been in the same position as Lovato, such as Britney Spears, Zac Efron, Lady Gaga and others. Spears is a great example of someone who was terrorized by paparazzi and was followed for countless days until she broke down. This resulted in Spears smashing a car window with an umbrella after shaving her head a few days earlier.
What did media organizations do? They plastered her face all over every magazine, and the next day everyone knew about her mental breakdown while she was checking into a rehab facility. Lovato, Spears and others did not need everyone to know about their situations. They needed support and kindness from those closest to them. They did not need rumors, memes or their worst moments remembered by the public.
No one should have their relapse published to the world and then have paparazzi hovering their drones over the celebrities’ homes as they try to get a picture that is worth a lot of money. No one should have their visiting loved ones be stalked and questioned, while all they are trying to do is check up on them. No one should have their privacy invaded during this time in their life.
Even though Lovato has been very open and upfront about her addiction and her mental health issues, it does not give anyone the right to intrude on her life and seek clicks for their media organization. Lovato speaks up about her addiction for others to relate and gain hope from her situation, not for the media and spectators to attack her while she is in a bad place in her life.
Of course, there are networks and media organizations that decided to profit off of Lovato’s relapse. Many organizations such as CNN, TMZ, USA Today, CBS and others have already released updates on her status. The so-called news is based on who has visited her during her time in the hospital, 911 call recordings and what information they received from sources close to Lovato about which substance she has used.
One network that had made the right call was Fox. The television network had decided after news broke out to not air the episode of their new show “Shazam,” which features Lovato after the overdose. If Fox had aired that episode, they would have gotten millions of views because people want to see any type of footage to see if they saw it coming when they do not even know Lovato on a personal level.
Throughout all of this, her family, friends and loyal fans from all around the world have reached out to Lovato through social media:
Stay Strong 💗 @ddlovato pic.twitter.com/6Dsmjr2DGI
— Lovatics Brasil (@bralovatics) July 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/DUALIPA/status/1022064137868914688
https://twitter.com/dcvonne/status/1022602054429298691
Like all of you I am reeling at the news about Demi. All of us love her and need to pray for her to get well. She is a fighter. #prayfordemi
— Nick Jonas (@nickjonas) July 25, 2018
But, there has been hate being tossed left and right as well:
Demi Lovato’s newest song is 🔥 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RYA0PWfhC5
— Darnell (@clubbericlang) July 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/OG_Trequalix/status/1022820413003452417
Time after time, media organizations have proven to their audience that they only care about clicks for their news articles. What really matters is that Lovato gets better and overcomes her addiction. It shouldn’t matter who is visiting her or how her relapse had gone down on that specific night. As a society, we should not become accustomed to viewing celebrities as solely entertainment because at the end of the day, they are human, too.
