Singer Demi Lovato hospitalised for drug overdose: reports

LOS ANGELES — Pop star Demi Lovato was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital Tuesday after an apparent drug overdose but remained in stable condition, reports said.

A Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that emergency responders transported a 25-year-old woman from an address that matches Lovato’s to a hospital, but did not identify her by name or state her condition.

Celebrity news site TMZ released audio of an emergency call in which responders appear to say that Lovato is unconscious and revived with Narcan, a nasal spray used to treat opioid overdoses.

People magazine quoted an anonymous source close to Lovato saying that the singer was in stable condition and that the overdose, while drug-related, was not from heroin, as initially reported by TMZ.

Representatives for Lovato did not respond to requests for comment.

A former Disney child star, Lovato has been open about her struggles with addiction as well as depression and eating disorders. A 2012 documentary, Demi Lovato: Stay Strong, documents how she used to snort cocaine several times a day but found her way into rehab and back into a successful career.

But a month ago, she released a song entitled Sober, in which she appeared to indicate a relapse, opening with the line, “I got no excuses for all these goodbyes.”

She apologises to her parents before singing in the chorus, “To the ones who never left me / We’ve been down this road before / I’m so sorry / I’m not sober anymore.”

Long struggles with addiction

In a 2015 interview with fashion magazine Elle, Lovato said that she had felt suicidal thoughts from age seven, even while appearing as a cheery girl in Barney and Friends alongside Selena Gomez.

“I knew at a young age that some of my behaviours were a problem,” she said, but added: “I wasn’t in a place where I could quit by myself.”

Lovato, whose acting career has also included a recurring role on Glee, has in recent years appeared to be on the mend with a new stable and assertive public image.

She has been politically outspoken, pressing for gay equality and putting on a passionate performance of Skyscraper ­— another song that deals with her past self-harm — for this year’s youth-led March for Our Lives in Washington in support of gun control.

Lovato was set to appear later Tuesday in a recorded episode of show Beat Shazam on Fox television and to perform Thursday in the East Coast gambling hub of Atlantic City.

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres wrote on Twitter, “I love (Lovato) so much.”

“It breaks my heart that she is going through this. She is a light in this world, and I am sending my love to her and her family,” DeGeneres tweeted.

Country star Brad Paisley, who has collaborated with Lovato, tweeted that the pop star “is one of the kindest, most talented people I’ve ever met.”

“Praying for her right now,” he tweeted. “Addiction is a terrifying disease. There is no one more honest or brave than this woman.”

And pop star Ariana Grande tweeted simply at Lovato, “I love you.” — AFP