Ahead of the release of her YouTube docuseries, Dancing With the Devil, Demi Lovato spoke to the New York Times about her 2018 heroin overdose, revealing that she “woke up legally blind in an intensive-care unit.†Per the Times, it took “about two months†for Lovato to regain enough sight to read a book, with blind spots making it “nearly impossible to see head-on.†“It was interesting how fast I adapted,†Lovato said. “I didn’t leave myself time to really feel sad about it. I just was like, how do I fix it?†She can now no longer drive and suffers from lingering vision problems, which she describes as “sunspots.†In addition to the vision problems, Lovato suffered three strokes, a heart attack, and organ failure, as well as pneumonia from asphyxiating on her vomit, as a result of the overdose. According to the Times, she was also sexually assaulted by the drug dealer who supplied her with the heroin that caused the overdose. Lovato does not further address the assault in the Times profile.
Lovato also spoke candidly about her breakup with ex-fiancé Max Ehrich, telling the Times, “I feel like I dodged a bullet because I wouldn’t have been living my truth for the rest of my life had I confined myself into that box of heteronormativity and monogamy. And it took getting that close to shake me up and be like, wow, you really got to live your life for who you really are.†Dancing With the Devil premieres on YouTube Originals on March 23.