Demi Lovato Deleted Her Twitter After Sparking Backlash For Joking About 21 Savage

The immigration crisis in the United States has been making plenty of headlines, and now, it involves someone in the public eye. On Sunday, rapper 21 Savage was arrested by ICE and may be deported after it was revealed that he's actually from the United Kingdom and reportedly stayed after his visa expired. (Bustle previously reached out to ICE and 21 Savage for comment.) The news created quite a stir on social media, which ultimately led to Demi Lovato deleting her Twitter after saying that she laughed at memes about the situation. But now, Lovato is explaining herself, while pointing out that this whole situation has made her the subject of cruel jokes about her struggles with addiction.

Since 21 Savage has claimed to be from Atlanta in the past, fans were shocked to find out that he's British and came to the U.S. on a visa that reportedly expired in 2006, per CNN. It didn't take long for memes to pop up mocking the fact that he's British, and Lovato admitted that they were funny. According to E! News, she tweeted on Sunday night, "So far 21 Savage memes have been my favorite part of the Super Bowl."

Instantly, Lovato faced backlash, and according to the singer, she became the butt of jokes involving her addiction, which she reportedly responded to by tweeting, "If you're gonna come at me for making a joke, try coming at me with some original not involving drugs." Still, the tweets about her continued to roll in, including one from Offset that seemed to be aimed at her, which eventually led her to deactivate her Twitter entirely.

Later, Lovato took to her Instagram Story — first to share a message that said, "This break couldn't last long enough tbh," and then to clear the air about the kinds of memes she was laughing at. She let fans know that the memes she was talking about in her tweets that were about 21 Savage hiding the fact that he was British, not that he had been deported, like this one:

Then she went on to show the kinds of comments she'd gotten after admitting she found those memes were funny, and they were all related to her addiction and the apparent overdose she experienced from last summer.

"Go shoot some more heroin Demi," one comment read, while another said, "Rehab doctors better take her phone away."

In her next IG post, Lovato wrote:

"Wasn't laughing at anyone getting deported. Know that's not a joke... not [sic] have I EVER laughed at that. The meme I posted/was talking about was of him being writing [sic] with a feather pen. Sorry if I offended anyone. But it's no excuse to laugh at someone's addiction let alone their OD. Lastly, I wasn't making fun on anything having to do with deportation or even anything against him. I was laughing at who the f*ck knew 21 was British? Literally no one. That's it. It doesn't go deeper than that. I'm sorry if I upset people truly."

Lovato has been open about her recovery and addiction in the past, and this is no different. Although deportation is certainly no laughing matter, neither is addiction, and it's important that Lovato pointed that out to her followers.

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