On Wednesday, Demi Lovato premiered the trailer for her upcoming documentary, Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, which investigates what led to her near-fatal overdose in 2018 and the ways in which she’s recovered since then. Lovato wants to use the film as a way to be candidly honest, and right from the onset she reveals that she suffered three strokes and a heart attack while in the hospital.
Lovato was just 25 years old when she was rushed to the emergency room for a heroin overdose. At the time, she had relapsed following six years of sobriety and was struggling to keep everything under control. A week passed and Lovato was still in the hospital, allegedly dealing with “complications” related to the overdose, like extreme nausea and a high fever. Now, she has opened up about what actually happened during those seven days.
In the trailer for Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, Lovato’s family, friends, and celebrities (including Elton John and Christina Aguilera) all speak candidly about the dark realities of her health issues. “Anytime you suppress a part of yourself, it’s going to overflow,” she says in the clip. “I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. My doctor’s said I had 5-10 more minutes. I’ve had a lot of lives, like a cat. I’m on my ninth life and I’m ready to get back to doing what I love, which is making music.” Watch the full video below.
Lovato and the documentary’s director Michael D. Ratner also spoke at length about the film at the Television Critics Association panel on Wednesday. “I was left with brain damage, and I still deal with the effects of that today. I don’t drive a car, because I have blind spots on my vision,” she told reporters. “And I also for a long time had a really hard time reading. It was a big deal when I was able to read out of a book, which was like two months later because my vision was so blurry.”
“I dealt with a lot of the repercussions and I feel like they are still there to remind me of what could happen if I ever get into a dark place again,” continued Lovato. “I’m grateful for those reminders, but I’m so grateful that I was someone that didn’t have to do a lot of rehabbing. The rehabbing came on the emotional side.”
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil is scheduled to premiere on March 23rd at the SXSW 2021 Film Festival. The event will take place virtually this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Learn more about how to tune in here.
Last year, Lovato made good on her promise to focus on music again. She kicked off 2020 by belting the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, dropped a new single called “I Love Me”, protested Donald Trump with “Commander in Chief”, and teamed up with Sam Smith on his track “I’m Ready”. She also performed at a number of livestream events, including the Disney Family Singalong, #SOSFest, and Elton John’s Living Room Concert for America.
