Demi Lovato Regrets How She Treated Her Disney Channel Co-Stars

Demi Lovato is embracing her past, both good and bad. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor revealed that she regrets how she treated people during her Disney Channel days, when she starred in the Camp Rock films and TV series Sonny With a Chance.

At the time, she was battling a substance use disorder and mental health struggles, which she says started when she was a teenager working with Disney.

“I think about people in the wardrobe department on my TV show because I’d go in there in bad moods all the time, and I worry about guest stars that came on or the other actors or the people during Camp Rock 2,” she told THR. “And it’s easy to excuse that behavior because I was so young and in so much pain, but I’m really remorseful, and that’s a guilt that stays with you forever.”

Alyson Stoner, who uses they/them pronouns, is the only Camp Rock star who agreed to participate in Lovato’s upcoming documentary, Child Star. The project, which marks Lovato’s directorial debut, explores her early days of fame and tackles the history of child stardom. It features interviews with Christina Ricci, Drew Barrymore, Raven-Symoné, Kenan Thompson, and JoJo Siwa.

Stoner was hesitant to join initially, since working with Lovato on the 2010 sequel was “inordinately challenging,” according to the outlet. Before talking on camera, the two had a separate sit-down, which Stoner said proved to be “healing.”

According to THR, during their interview for the doc, Stoner brought up Lovato’s behavior on set of Camp Rock 2 and the following tour in late 2010. “I remember a sense of walking on eggshells,” they told Lovato. “There was definitely a lot of fear of a blowup.” (Things ultimately did go haywire when Lovato punched a backup dancer, which prompted her to withdraw from the tour and enter rehab.)

Lovato, for her part, says she remembers very little of her Disney Channel days.

“I think I’d passed the threshold of what I could withstand emotionally and physically,” she told THR. “And I didn’t realize that child stardom could be traumatic — and it isn’t traumatic for everyone, but for me, it was.”

The singer has long been open about the impact that child stardom has had on her.

“No child should ever be in the limelight,” she told Spin in 2022. “It’s too much pressure. There’s an absence of childhood that you never get to experience. It makes things confusing because you develop problems from that experience, whether it’s addiction or trust issues or financial stress. It follows you into adulthood.”

If you or someone you know is seeking help for substance use, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).