Entertainment

Demi Lovato's Instagram Exchange With Taylor Swift Shows There's No Bad Blood

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

There were many winners at the 2019 Video Music Awards, but a major loser was the alleged feud that rose up between Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift. With Swift dominating the awards ceremony — kicking off the show with 12 nominations and an opening number of "You Need to Calm Down" and "Lover" — many fans saw Lovato skipping the awards as a direct snub to the pop star. Lovato already posted that her VMAs absence had nothing to do with the other singer, and on Labor Day, Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift proved they don't have any drama with a supportive Instagram exchange.

Earlier this week, Lovato clarified that she missed the VMAs due to her guest-starring on Will & Grace. She further put rumors to rest that she was avoiding a Swift-filled night by Instagramming support for the other singer's latest album on Monday.

In a series of Sept. 2 Instagram Stories, Lovato posted about Swift's new song "Cruel Summer," calling the song "a jam" with the praise hands emoji. Lovato went on to reaffirm her belief that women should support other women.

In response, Taylor reposted the message with heart emojis. "This is so awesome and put the biggest smile on my face," Swift wrote. "Thank you."

The two pop stars feuding likely loomed large on everyone's mind due to Lovato voicing support for Scooter Braun, who she signed with for management in May of this year. In a lengthy Tumblr post shared on June 30, Swift publicly accused Braun of "incessant, manipulative bullying" and expressed deep disappointment that his acquisition of her former record label, Big Machine, meant he now owned all her master recordings. Swift said that for years she'd "pleaded for a chance to own my work."

While Lovato didn't reference Swift, she did voice support for Braun soon after, which many read as a direct jab. "I have dealt with bad people in this industry and Scooter is not one of them," the star wrote in a post on her Instagram Story. "He's a good man. Personally, I'm grateful he came into my life when he did. Please stop 'dragging' people or bullying them. There's enough hate in this world as it is."

Taylor Swift/Instagram

This isn't the first time the two pop stars have made the news for supposedly fighting. Back in 2016, the relationship between the two singers seemed pretty tense, to put it lightly. After Swift donated $250,000 to Kesha in the wake of her legal battle with Dr. Luke, Lovato tweeted, "Take something to Capitol Hill or actually speak out about something and then I'll be impressed." Many read the tweet as directed towards Swift, which Lovato denied.

In a May 2016 interview with Refinery29, Lovato admitted she sometimes got "too passionate" on Twitter, and worried that her tweet was interpreted as just celebrities squabbling. "Listen, there’s nothing positive that comes from pitting women against each other. There are women that I don’t get along with, and that’s fine." She did further fan the flames though, adding, "My thing is, don’t brand yourself a feminist if you don’t do the work."

In Glamour's November 2016 issue, Lovato spoke candidly about how she disapproves of Swift's brand of feminism. "I think that having a song and a video about tearing Katy Perry down, that's not women's empowerment," Lovato explained in regards to the "Bad Blood" music video. "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."

Suffice to say, it seems that the two have had their own bad blood for a while. But it's perhaps fitting that it's Lovato who came around to voice support for Swift, and over the upbeat song "Cruel Summer," no less. The Ringer calls "Cruel Summer" an "effective rebuke of Taylor’s personal drama," so here's hoping them bonding over it means any and all Swift and Lovato drama is now a thing of the past.