Neil deGrasse Tyson is weighing in on Demi Lovato’s latest controversy surrounding our extraterrestrial neighbors. After the “Confident” singer declared the word “alien” offensive when it comes to referring to space creatures, the famed astrophysicist told TMZ he was a bit confused, thinking the statement a bit presumptuous.
Tyson pointed out that humans haven’t really had any interactions with space aliens, making it difficult to know what they would think or feel about the term. He continued that he wasn’t sure how Lovato knew about what life outside the planet would believe about the term “alien,” but acknowledged they were simply being considerate — perhaps to a fault. Tyson continued that while he supports the efforts of immigration advocates to end the use of the term “alien” to refer to people from other countries, he’s missing Lovato’s point in this case.
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The “Dancing With the Devil” singer first addressed the word they consider offensive in an interview with Pedestrian TV while discussing their Unidentified with Demi Lovato series on Peacock. They explained they don’t believe creatures from another planet want to harm humans, saying, “I really think that if there was anything out there that would want to do that to us, it would have happened by now. But I think that we have to stop calling them aliens because ‘aliens’ is a derogatory term for anything. That’s why I like to call them E.T.s!”
Lovato’s four-part docuseries that first debuted in September follows the former Disney Channel star, their best friend Matthew Scott Montgomery, and their sister Dallas as they search for the truth regarding extraterrestrial life and UFOs with help from experts. Lovato has long been a believer in extraterrestrials, explaining they wanted to move into a different sector of their career to help track down the truth. “I just thought, you know, I’m in a position in my career right now where I’m dipping my toes into a lot of different waters. And this was just kind of a natural next step,” they said. Lovato previously addressed their belief in something outside of our planet, telling Seth Meyers in 2014, “How self-centered would we be as humans to believe that we are the only living things in the universe?”
