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Demi Lovato is revisiting her early Hollywood years.
The former Disney star took aim at a 12-year age difference she had with an ex-boyfriend when she was a teenager, declaring in hindsight, “That’s not OK.”
“I’m sitting here in this state of mind today, grateful for everything that I’ve been through … it was really challenging. There wasn’t a lot of time for play. But when I did, I played pretty hard,” Lovato said on Keke Palmer’s podcast.
Demi Lovato spoke about dating a 30-year-old man as a teenager during a conversation with Keke Palmer. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
The conversation then turned to age gaps in Hollywood.
“I found myself dating — I’m 15, why is my boyfriend 20?” Palmer shared.
Lovato quickly echoed the sentiment, replying, “Why was my boyfriend 30? You know what I’m saying?”
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Demi Lovato has previously spoken out about her 12-year age gap with Wilmer Valderrama. (Reuters)
“Nobody our age could understand,” Lovato added. “But then you look back in hindsight. When I turned 30, I was like, that’s not OK.”
Palmer reflected further, “Girl, the moment when you realize, and you get the age of a lot of people that were around you and doing stuff — it’s almost a mental break that can happen, because you realize you were taken advantage of. ‘Oh, I was being exploited.’ That was very difficult for me, because at 15, I’m thinking, ‘my boyfriend’s older because I’m doing an older job. I’m doing a bunch of things, and this is just the way it is.’ It seemed normal in my mind.”
Lovato replied, “Especially if you’re an older soul, too. Especially if you’re mature for your age.”
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Lovato agreed with Palmer’s assertion that dating an older man as a younger girl felt “normal,” given their professions. (Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal)
That phrase — mature for your age — is one Lovato has since skewered in her music.
“I also wrote a song about that. It’s called ‘29’ … When you listen to it, I think you’ll be able to relate to it,” she said, referencing her track.
When the song was released, many fans believed Lovato was alluding to her relationship with “That ’70s Show” star Wilmer Valderrama.
“Just five years of bleeders, student and a teacher / Far from innocent / What the f—’s consent? / Numbers told you not to / But that didn’t stop you,” she sang.
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Valderrama (top left) is best known for his role on “That ’70s Show.” (FOX Image Collection via Getty Images)
Lovato met Valderrama when she was 17 and he was 29. The couple dated from 2010 until 2016.
“When I first met Wilmer he was 29,” she said in her 2017 documentary, “Simply Complicated.” “I met him on Jan. 11 of 2010, and it was at a PSA shoot at his house for the 2010 census forms,” she said.
She said the only reason she agreed to do the PSA was because she heard it was at his house and thought he was “really cute.”
“I met him and I laid eyes on him for the first time. I was in hair and makeup, and he came in and sat down, and I was like ‘I love this man’ and ‘I have to have him,’” she said. “But I was only 17, so he was like, ‘Get away from me.’ After I turned 18, we began dating.”
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Lovato is currently married to musician Jutes, 34. The couple tied the knot in California last May.
Valderrama currently stars on “NCIS” and voiced a character in “Encanto.” He’s engaged to Amanda Pacheco, with whom he shares two children.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Lovato for comment.
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