Demi Lovato No Longer Supports Being 'California Sober,' Says 'Sober Sober Is the Only Way to Be'

Demi Lovato is no longer California sober. The 29-year-old singer took to their Instagram Story on Thursday to announce that they no longer support the California sober lifestyle, and instead are "sober sober."

"I no longer support my 'California sober' ways," Lovato wrote. "Sober sober is the only way to be."

Lovato first made headlines for their version of sobriety back in March, with the release of their docuseries, Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil, which followed their 2018 overdose.

"I've learned that it doesn't work for me to say that I'm never going to do this again," Lovato said. "... I know I'm done with the stuff that's going to kill me, right? Telling myself that I can never have a drink or smoke marijuana, I feel like that's setting myself up for failure because I am such a black-and-white thinker. I had it drilled into my head for so many years that one drink was equivalent to a crack pipe."

At the time, Lovato shared that they had been "smoking weed and drinking in moderation." 

In a CBS Sunday Morning interview around the same time, Lovato used the term "California sober" for the first time.

"I think the term that I best identify with is California sober," they said. "I really don't feel comfortable explaining the parameters of my recovery to people, because I don't want anyone to look at my parameters of safety and think that's what works for them, because it might not."

While Lovato cautioned that their California sober choice wasn't "a one-size-fits-all solution for everybody," they drew criticism for promoting a lifestyle that was not completely sober. At the time, Ken Seeley, an interventionist and trauma professional, told ET about why he considered Lovato's California sober lifestyle to be "almost criminal."

"[There] is no moderation for people that suffer with addiction... You can't just turn it off," he told ET. "... It could kill millions of people by letting them know that it's OK to use in moderation... To tell people that they could be sober and use in moderation is almost criminal, because I guarantee you if that takes off, people will die thinking that they're California sober when there is no such term. There is no such thing."

RELATED CONTENT:

Demi Lovato Calls Herself 'California Sober' -- Here's What That Means

Demi Lovato on How They Came to the Realization They Were Non-Binary

Demi Lovato Releases New Song in Honor of Late Friend

Related Gallery

Must-See Celeb Sightings: December 2021