More than a decade afterlosing her virginity in a devastating rapeat just 15 years old,Demi Lovatois finally on the road to healing.
In her moving newYouTube Originals docuseries,Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil(out Tuesday), the pop star, 28, opens up for the first time about her experiences with sexual assault.
“Sometimes people hear my music from when I was a teenager and they’re like, ‘Oh, you were so angry.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, and now you guys get to seewhyI was so angry,'” she tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week’s issue.
Demi Lovato.Angelo Kritikos
“Having put that out in front of the camera and knowing that people have seen that, it’s freeing. It’s empowering. It’s liberating,” she says of sharing her story. “And it really lets that anger that was inside of me dissolve. I had let go of a lot of the anger beforehand, but this was kind of just the final send-off, like, okay, I can really heal from this now.”
Michael D. Ratner and Demi Lovato.Angelo Kritikos
“Now that I’ve talked about it and now that I know that other people could hear my story, I just hope that it helps people,” says the star, whose new album,Dancing with the Devil… The Art of Starting Over, is out April 2. “Sexual abuse is something that people feel is taboo to talk about and to come forward about, but I want to show people that you can, and it’s okay.”
Reflecting on the guilt, confusion and hurt she felt as a teen, Lovato says she would tell her 15-year-old self — and other young people silently suffering — that healing is possible.
Demi Lovato in Camp Rock.John Medland / © Disney Channel / Courtesy Everett Collection
“When the time is right, and when you feel ready, youcantalk about it — and you’re going to heal from it,” says Lovato of the comfort she would share with her younger self. “You’re going to feel so much more empowered. You’ll be free of the shame.”
“It’ll be an up-and-down journey, but when you do finally decide to confront that [trauma] and do the work around it —reallydo the work around it — it’s so rewarding and freeing,” she continues. “I want not just my 15-year-old self to hear that, but anyone else who’s been abused.”
Ratner tells PEOPLE the emotional discussion was filmed on their last day of interviews for the docuseries.
“It’s her story and she needed to be comfortable with it,” says the OBB Media founder, who also directedJustin Bieber’s docuseries,Seasons. “She wanted it included, and that is her journey and her prerogative.”
In the series Lovato is solemn and at times visibly emotional as she recounts harrowing details about her assaults, and “if you watch that moment carefully, you see Demi working through it,” says Ratner. “When that moment happened, we spoke about it right after. She’s like, ‘I want that in there,’ and I think that that’s really powerful.”
Demi Lovato.youtube
For more onDemi Lovatoand her emotional and physical recovery following a terrifying overdose three years ago, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please contact the SAMHSA substance abuse helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.
source: people.com
