Demi Lovato is opening up about her life in her new docuseries, Dancing with the Devil. And in one particularly candid moment from the show, Demi admits that, following her near-fatal 2018 overdose, she is still not fully sober. She also shared why her friends and management team do not support this.
"I've learned that it doesn't work for me to say that I'm never going to do this again," Demi says. She notes that she "really struggled" with her decision to come forward about her continued use of some substances.
View this video on YouTube
Demi goes on to say that she is "done with the stuff that's going to kill me," but that she still drinks alcohol and smokes weed "in moderation."
"Telling myself that I can never have a drink or smoke marijuana, I feel like that's setting myself up for failure because I am such a black and white thinker," she says. "I had it drilled into my head for so many years that one drink was equivalent to a crack pipe."
Demi adds that she doesn't want anyone else struggling with addiction to assume that they can make the same choice she has:
I also don't want people to hear that and think that they can go out and try having a drink or smoking a joint, you know? Because it isn't for everybody. Recovery isn't a one-size-fits-all solution.
"You shouldn't be forced to get sober if you're not ready," she concludes. "You shouldn't get sober for other people. You have to do it for yourself."
The docuseries also shows Demi's friends and family expressing their concern over her decision.
"It does kind of scare me now to know that she isn't sober," her friend and assistant Jordan Jackson says.
Elton John, who has been open about his own struggles with addiction, tells the documentary crew that "moderation doesn't work." He says, "Sorry. If you drink, you're going to drink more. If you take a pill, you're going to take another one. You either do it or you don't."
Demi's manager, Scooter Braun, admits that he doesn't "agree" with the choice, but he says that he doesn't want to "push her away."
"Demi knows the whole moderation thing isn't something I totally agree with," he says. "What I've learned with the whole addiction thing is if I push her to do what I want, I push her away. I can't control her. What I can do is be a friend and hope that she's right."
Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil premieres on YouTube on March 23.
H/T to Entertainment Tonight.