Demi Lovato has deactivated her Twitter account after facing backlash for memes she posted about 21 Savage, who was arrested over the weekend by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On Sunday, the “Sorry Not Sorry” singer took to Twitter to poke fun at the rapper’s recently revealed British citizenship, writing “So far 21 savage memes have been my favorite part of the Super Bowl.”
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Her tweet came just hours after news broke that the rapper, whose real name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, had been arrested by ICE for being an “unlawfully present United Kingdom national” who had entered the country with a visa in 2005 and remained after his non-immigrant visa expired a year later.
Lovato continued her tweets on Sunday night with a meme referencing 21 Savage’s newly revealed British citizenship, sharing a photo of a person writing with a quill pen, which she captioned “This how 21 Savage be writing his verses.” She added in a later tweet that “this is the s— I’m laughing at.. not the fact that anyone is getting deported.”
Fans, however, were quick to accuse Lovato of being insensitive, with some referencing Lovato’s own recent struggles with addiction. Among those to comment was rapper Wale.
“Why is somebody freedom funny … I don’t get the joke,” Wale tweeted, adding in a second tweet, “”A lot of people were sending you love light , prayers etc . When people were making jokes about u at a rough time. A lot of people .Bless up.”
The two later took the argument to Instagram, where Lovato replied to a screenshot by The Shade Room of their Twitter comments, writing “Wale just salty I never replied to his desperate tweets years ago.”
After Wale responded, stating “Still ain’t gon disrespect you .. still praying for you Demi… I don’t kick people when they down. Go queen,” Lovato deactivated her Twitter account.
Lovato then took to her Instagram Story to defend herself and her remarks on 21 Savage, sharing screenshots of the of the backlash she had received after sharing the 21 Savage meme.
“She’s a hypocrite let’s pull out the heroin memes and see if this b— doesn’t get emotional,” one commenter wrote
“Wasn’t laughing at anyone getting deported. I know that’s not a joke… not have I EVER laughed at that,” Lovato wrote on her Instagram Story. “The meme I posted/was talking about was of him writing with a feather pen. Sorry if I offended anyone. But it’s no excuse to laugh at someone’s addiction let alone their OD.”
“Lastly, I wasn’t making fun on [sic] anything having to do with deportation or even anything against him,” she continued. “I was laughing at who the f— knew 21 was British? Literally no one. That’s it. It doesn’t go deeper than that. I’m sorry if I upset people truly.”
“Yo, @wale if you wanna talk, then answer my dms,” she concluded.
Lovato, who entered rehab over the summer following a July overdose, recently celebrated 6-months of sobriety.
