Demi Lovato reflected on her “privilege” and shared how she “hated” that she “shared the same skin color as the people accused of committing heinous crimes” against George Floyd and more.
“So here I am, sitting in a home that I was able to afford with the money that I have from singing, while people of color are fearing for their lives every day,” the 28-year-old pop singer shared in an open letter in Vogue published Tuesday. (SLIDESHOW: These Are The Greatest Demi Lovato Photos On The Internet)
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“I realized this was a lightning bolt jolting through my body, where I was reminded of my privilege,” she added. “I felt an overwhelming responsibility to help spread awareness about this injustice, so I began posting things that I thought would educate people.” (RELATED: Demi Lovato Rushed To The Hospital For Possible Heroin Overdose)
Lovato continued, “I was self-conscious about speaking out about these issues because I didn’t want anyone to feel like it wasn’t genuine.”
The “Camp Rock” star went on to share how her first reaction following the deaths of Floyd and others was to call “every person of color that I knew and apologize” but then decided against that because she knew that wasn’t “the right thing to do either.”
“Like a lot of people, I didn’t know what to do,” Demi wrote. “All I knew was that I hated that I shared the same skin color as the people accused of committing heinous crimes against Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and many, many other Black lives.”
“After taking some time to educate myself, what I’ve learned is that to be a good ally, you need to be willing to protect people at all costs,” she added. “You have to step in if you see something happening that’s not right: a racist act, a racist comment, a racist joke. And it’s not just with Black Lives Matter. It’s also with the Me Too movement. Finally, the world is waking up and it’s beautiful to witness.”
The entire letter can be read here.