Why Demi Lovato And Taylor Swift Hate Each Other

Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift aren't exactly best friends. Lovato has made it no secret that she's not a fan of the former country music crooner, and she's certainly not a member of Swift's notorious squad. But what went down between these two starlets to create so much bad blood? We've got the dirt. 

Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift got to know each other in 2008, likely through mutual pals Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez. The pair even exchanged tweets complimenting one another's music, with Swift saying that Lovato's "Don't Forget" music video made her cry and is "probably [her] favorite video ever."

When Lovato went to rehab for the first time in 2010, she said Swift was one of the few people who reached out to check in on her. "I lost friends when I came out of treatment because I realized who wasn't there for me. I can list about five or six people that called me and made sure that I was okay," Lovato told Access Hollywood. "Taylor Swift sent me an email saying, 'Hey, I don't know if you have a phone right now, but are you okay?'"

These two used to be so strong, so what went wrong?

Swift dated Joe Jonas in 2008, until he reportedly dumped her in an infamous 27-second phone call. Swift capitalized on her very public split from the middle JoBro in a big way, allegedly writing a slew of songs about him (and his next girlfriend, Camilla Belle) and running her mouth about the relationship everywhere from Ellen to Saturday Night Live.

In 2010, Lovato embarked on her own relationship with Jonas, and it didn't end well. After just a few weeks together, they called it quits, with Jonas making sure to tell the press that he chose to end it with her. Shortly after, Lovato entered rehab.

Though she's friendly with Jonas now, a source told Radar Online, "Taylor and Demi do not associate with each other because of all of the drama Taylor put Joe Jonas through after they split and she wrote songs about him. Joe is Demi's best friend."

Lovato has been friends with fellow Disney darling Gomez since they co-starred on Barney and Friends as kids. However, that friendship seemed threatened when Swift entered the picture in 2009. In 2010, Lovato was caught on camera during an autograph signing in a moment that will live in infamy: When someone asked her how Gomez was doing, she smiled and replied, "Ask Taylor!"

The trio has gotten along since then, including a Facetime friend-date in December 2013, but these three pop stars have rarely been seen or heard all together since. When Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen asked Gomez if Swift came between her friendship with Lovato during his program's "Plead the Fifth" segment, Gomez replied, "Absolutely not," adding, "You're kids, you know what I mean? You grow up together."

Lovato's main connection to Swift was mutual BFF Gomez, yet Gomez and Lovato reportedly don't talk anymore. In the summer of 2015, Lovato confirmed she and Gomez have grown distant, telling Complex, "You know, when you're young and you get older, you change and people change. You have things in common, and then all of a sudden, you don't. It's just a part of life."

A source told Radar Online, "Demi is so fed up with all of Selena's BS. She has given Selena so many chances to learn from her mistakes and grow up and Selena keeps going back to the source of her misery," referring to Gomez's tumultuous relationship with Justin Bieber. The insider added, "Selena's partying has gotten out of control and Demi simply cannot tolerate it anymore. Selena used to support her sobriety and her recovery, but lately she is just a trigger to Demi." Gomez allegedly entered rehab, in September 2016, so maybe they'll reconnect down the road.

When pop star Kesha's abuse case against Dr. Luke made headlines in May 2016, Lovato subtweeted Swift, writing, "I'm also ready for self-proclaimed feminists to start speaking out or taking action for women's rights." Swift has touted feminist ideas while marketing her music in the past, but she's also come under fire for not speaking out on behalf of the #FreeKesha campaign and other controversial girl power issues.

Lovato echoed those same comments again when Glamour asked her about Swift in an October 2016 cover story. "I think in certain situations, certain people could be doing more if they're going to claim [feminism] as part of their brand," she said. "I think that having a song and a video ["Bad Blood"] about tearing Katy Perry down, that's not women's empowerment. We all do things that aren't, but I have to ask myself, 'Am I content with calling myself a feminist?' Yes, because I speak out."

Lovato has taken shots at Swift for coming from an affluent family and not having many struggles in her life. Lovato hinted at it briefly in her Complex interview when she discussed her friendship with hip-hop artist Iggy Azalea. "The reason why we relate a lot to each other ... is that we've all been through a lot and we've come out strong. Iggy has really gone through s**t and she's come out super strong and didn't let that take her down a devastating path. There's respect there." How does that relate to Swift, you ask?

Because Lovato brought it up again, explicitly, when she received some backlash for criticizing Swift's donation to Kesha's legal expenses. "Not everyone has 250k to just give to people. Would love to but I didn't grow up with money and def haven't made as much as her," Lovato tweeted (via JustJared). "At least I speak up about s**t that's uncomfortable to talk about rather than trying to be politically correct 24/7."

In her 2016 Glamour cover story, Lovato, who's openly struggled with eating disorders, said that performing for the Victoria's Secret swimsuit special was triggering for her. She also noted that Swift's squad of supermodels, some of whom are Victoria's Secret Angels, isn't a healthy representation of women's bodies. "To be honest, and this will probably get me in trouble, I don't see anybody in any sort of squad that has a normal body. It's kind of this false image of what people should look like. And what they should be like, and it's not real," Lovato said.

Swift did not publicly comment, but a source close to the singer insinuated that Lovato was just jealous that she wasn't allowed in the squad. "Taylor has a tight group of women in her life that all have her and each others' back and sometimes people just want that," the insider told E! News. "She thought it was unnecessary for her to make those comments. They both have never been really good friends."

When Lovato took some heat over that Glamour interview, she held her ground, tweeting (via the Sun), "...still not apologizing for saying what everyone want [sic] to say."

Perhaps one influence on Lovato and Swift's long-simmering feud is the former's longtime friendship with the Kardashians, who have a volatile history with Swift.

Lovato has been open about her friendship with the controversial clan, telling Ellen, "I was growing up at the kind of age where your body starts changing and you want to be cool. It was in that era of when very, very, very thin people were the popular people in Hollywood, so that's what I had to look up to ... And when the Kardashians came on the scene that was the first time that I really associated curves with beauty and it was just so new to me. I remember thinking, 'Wow, that's so cool,' and even in a time when I was still struggling with food, I was able to look at Kim's curves and be like, 'I should really be proud of my curves.'"

When Kim Kardashian exposed Swift's infamous phone call with Kanye West over his song "Famous" in July 2016, Lovato liked a few tweets supporting Kardashian. Perhaps that's enough to be exiled from Swift's squad forever.

Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift are probably never going to be friends, as it's apparently not just the aesthetics of Swift's squad that annoys Lovato. It's also the perception of fame hungry friends hanging out exclusively with celebrities to allegedly promote one another's careers. Lovato told Complex, "I don't really hang out with celebrities. I'm not the type of person that's on Instagram posting pictures of me and tons of my best friends ... I don't have anybody around me who kisses my a**."

Lovato also threw shade at Swift during a radio interview in 2013 when she insinuated the singer uses her love life to sell albums. "A lot of celebrities don't open up to their fans," she said (via Inquisitr). "They don't really tell them things that can benefit their lives, they just, you know, maybe flaunt around a boyfriend and sell a couple of albums. That's not what my career is about." Swift is notorious for allegedly writing about her exes. When asked if that quote was about Swift, Lovato quipped, "I don't care about Taylor Swift's love life. I don't care about Harry Styles' love life. I care about mine. I find it weird that people are so obsessed with other people's love lives!"