Demi Lovato has been living her best honest life as of late. The "Sorry Not Sorry" singer vowed to no longer edit or photoshop her images posted to her Instagram feed and apologized to her followers for editing past posts of her body. "I want this new chapter in my life to be about being authentic to who I am rather than trying to meet someone else’s standards," she wrote.
Demi has now made another move for the betterment of her mental health since getting baptized in the Jordan River in Israel. The 27-year-old prefaced her share to social media making it clear that she's Christian with Jewish ancestors and the whole experience made her feel more alive than ever.
"When I was offered an amazing opportunity to visit the places I’d read about in the Bible growing up, I said yes. There is something absolutely magical about Israel," Demi wrote. "I’ve never felt such a sense of spirituality or connection to God…something I’ve been missing for a few years now. Spirituality is so important to me…to be baptized in the Jordan river – the same place Jesus was baptized – I’ve never felt more renewed in my life."
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However, as is the case whenever a celebrity exhibits any affiliation with Israel, Lovato received backlash for indirectly (or directly, depending on how you view it) endorsing Israel's occupation of Palestine. People's impression that Lovato was making a political statement with her Instagram posts was compounded by the revelation that the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs had sponsored her trip and content. Israeli newspaper, Ynet, detailed that Lovato had received $150,000 and another Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, highlighted that it was odd for her not to specify in her posts that the trip was government-sponsored.
While Lovato hasn't removed her Israel posts from her page, she shared an apologetic message on her Instagram story. She claimed she was unaware of the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and would not have accepted the trip had she known it would offend her followers. "This was meant to be a spiritual experience for me, NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT and now I realize it hurt people and for that I'm sorry," she wrote. You can read the rest of her message below.
