Demi Lovato took to Instagram Stories to call out a Fro-Yo shop for promoting “diet culture.”
On Sunday, the “Met Him Last Night” singer shared details about her experience at the L.A.-based location The Bigg Chill, saying that she noticed several sugar-free cookies and “diet” options before making it to the store’s counter.
“Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from @thebiggchillofficial when you have to walk past tons of sugar free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter,” Demi wrote to her 102 million followers. “Do better please.”
The Bigg Chill soon responded to Demi’s concerns, adding that they “carry items for Diabetics, Celiac disease, Vegan and of course have many indulgent items as well.” Demi also continued, starting a hashtag “#dietculturevultures” and alleging the company of having “harmful messaging.”
She later shared her DMs with the fro-yo shop, where she said the shop was trying to keep a back-and-forth going.
“We are not diet vultures. We cater to all of our customers’ needs for the past 36 years. We are sorry you found this offensive,” the company wrote to Demi, who called her experience at the store “triggering and awful.”
She later ended on what seems to be a better note, telling The Bigg Chill that their mesaging can get “confusing” when it isn’t clear.
“I think clearer messaging would be more beneficial for everyone,” Lovato wrote. “You aren’t wrong for catering to many different needs but its not about excluding to one demographic to cater to others.”
In a video captured by Pop Crave, Lovato issued an apology to the yogurt shop.
“I’m human I talk about my struggles. And I’m passionate. So I’m sorry that I got the messaging wrong. I’m sorry that I may have disappointed some people. But I am not coming after a small business as someone with a lot of followers. That’s not what I am doing here. I walked into a situation that didn’t sit right with me. My intuition said speak up about this and I did,” she said.
She is also open to working with the shop to get the messaging right so other people with eating disorders can feel safe.
