Poot Lovato

About

Poot Lovato is the nickname given to American singer and actress Demi Lovato based on an unflattering photograph of the celebrity that was uploaded to Tumblr in October 2015. Since emerging online, the photograph has spawned a series of photoshopped parodies and a myth centered around the entirely fictional twin alter ego of Demi Lovato.

Origin

On October 3rd, 2015, Tumblr user Versaceslut posted a sketch drawing of Demi Lovato based on a poorly framed and washed out image of the pop star, most likely a low-resolution screenshot of a photograph taken at a red carpet event^[1], in the style of the “I Have Drawn You” fan art meme. In just a little over two weeks, the post garnered more than 75,000 notes.

Spread

On October 11th, 2015, Tumblr Cstcrpt posted the image along with the caption that read: “Demi’s twin sister. She was locked in a basement her whole life. This picture was taken the first time she went outside. Her name is Poot.” The post received over 87,000 notes before the user deleted the Tumblr account.

In the following days, the image instantly began spreading throughout Tumblr, with some users incorporating the photo into photoshopped images and otherwise adding to the story.^[2] On October 12th, Twitter user @OfficialPoot began tweeting in character of Lovato’s alter ego; the user has gained more than 3,700 followers in the first week.^[3] On October 16th, Wattpad user KayleeMarieTodd began expanding the backstory of Poot in a fanfiction called “The Secret History of Poot Lovato.” Incorporating some aspects of the Demi Lovato fandom, including the phrase “Delete It, Fat!”, the backstory has received over 40,500 reads and 820 votes.^[4] In addition, others attempted to create a Wikipedia page for Poot Lovato, but it was removed and identified as a hoax.^[5]