Demi Lovato warns young girls that dating older men is not "sexy or fun"

25 August 2022, 16:47

Demi Lovato says it’s not okay for young girls to date older men in Call Her Daddy trailer

By Sam Prance

Demi Lovato appears to call out the age gap between her and her ex Wilmer Valderrama in her 29 lyrics.

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Demi Lovato has opened up about the inspiration behind their new single '29' and what they hope to achieve with the song.

Last week (Aug 17), Demi Lovato released '29' as the third single from her eighth studio album Holy Fvck. In the song, Demi calls out an ex over their age gap: "Far from innocent, what the fuck's consent? / Numbers told you not to, but that didn't stop you." Fans think the song is about Wilmer Valderrama. Wilmer dated Demi when he was 29 and she was just 17.

Now, Demi has spoken in depth about the song and said that they hope that it teaches young girls not to date older men.

READ MORE: Demi Lovato appears to call out age gap between her and ex Wilmer Valderrama in 29 lyrics

Demi Lovato wants 29 to teach young girls that dating older men is "not okay"
Demi Lovato wants 29 to teach young girls that dating older men is "not okay". Picture: Hollywood To You/Star Max/GC Images, Lester Cohen/WireImage

Speaking to Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Demi explains how she started writing '29'. She reveals: "I went to treatment after turning 29. I came out of treatment with understanding and growth and so it was like a reflective song for me. Even though there are undertones of anger, I really learned a lot about that experience. I decided to write about it."

While Demi doesn't mention Wilmer by name on the podcast, it appears that the experience they are referring to is the on-again-off-again relationship they had with the Encanto actor between 2010 and 2016. In '29', Demi appears to explicitly address their age difference by singing: "Finally 29 / 17 would never cross my mind" and "17, 29" on repeat.

Demi goes on to tell Alex: "If you're a young girl and you think that it's sexy or fun to date older men, it's not okay, unless you're of age. It's portrayed as, 'Oh you scored someone older! That's cool!' and actually, that's weird!"

Demi adds: "It's just like a reflective moment of if you're in that situation. Just listen to this song and think about it."

Demi Lovato - 29 (Lyric Video)

Demi ends by saying that she struggled to release the song. She says: "It was hard, it was really hard for me to release this as a single because it's so emotional for me, so personal."

They then end by saying: "I think sometimes the public needs the truth and that's why I decided to release it as a single because the message is so important."

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