Demi Lovato’s Frozen Yogurt Controversy: What to Know About Their Feud With The Bigg Chill Shop

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Demi Lovato’s Frozen Yogurt Controversy: What to Know About Their Feud With The Bigg Chill Shop

Ice, ice, baby! Demi Lovato made headlines over the weekend after they came for The Bigg Chill yogurt shop following a “triggering” experience in their store. The Los Angeles-based eatery, which opened in 1986, is known for having more than 400 “distinctive flavors using live cultures and natural ingredients.” The store, which has been dubbed “L.A.’s ultimate yogurt experience,” prides itself on have no-sugar added, fat-free and dairy-free varieties. Lovato, however, found the marketing of sweet treats labeled as “sugar-free” and the diet foods lining the walkway to the front of the store upsetting as someone who has battled an eating disorder for years. The “Dancing With the Devil” singer, 28, took to their Instagram Story on Sunday, April 18, to call out the company after “finding it extremely hard to order froyo” because of the “diet foods” they offer. Lovato also called them “diet culture vultures.” The Bigg Chill reacted to the accusations, explaining that they have items for all types of dietary restrictions, including diabetes, celiac disease and vegans, in addition to fully indulgent treats. They noted, “We are sorry you found this offensive,” after detailing how they work. Lovato, in turn, criticized the overall experience in the store, calling it “triggering and awful” before giving suggestions of how to better explain the diabetic and vegan specific foods and labeling choices. Leah McSweeney and Jameela Jamil later weighed in on the controversy, with the Real Housewives of New York City star, 38, calling Lovato out for their “disgusting” comments that could have lost a small business its customers. Jamil, 35, on the other hand, defended Lovato via her Instagram Story, noting how sad it was to see how people came after the musician following her comments. [jwplayer hoeyCRmL-l3ahXupL] “What I was mostly curious about is watching people rush to deliberately misunderstand her intention and stance, and frame her as ignorant and careless, and inherently bad. Pile on of mockery of the people who are constantly trying to help … are problematic in ways we don’t consider. You’re not just discouraging the person in question for making themselves vulnerable in order to help others, you’re discouraging future people from doing the same,” she wrote. The Misery Index host added: “It’s just mockery and cruelty and maligning of a woman’s character who is navigating unchartered territory of being super famous, super young, super outspoken, super honest and vulnerable and super fragile and strong at the same time. Lovato reposted Jamil’s posts, writing, “Thank you queen. Literally so grateful you get me and that I can call you a close friend. I love you.” The “Sorry Not Sorry” singer apologized for her controversial stance on Monday, April 19, in an eight-minute Instagram video. "I want to make L.A. and this whole country a safer — and this whole f--king world — a safer environment," Lovato said. "People with eating disorders should be able to go in and feel safe wherever they want to eat. Everything I'm doing is well-intentioned, you have to understand.” They concluded: "It's really important that everyone hears that my intentions were not to come in and bully a small business ... I walked in and was so triggered that I left without froyo and it made me really sad. And that's all it was." Scroll through for everything we know about the drama: [podcast_block]

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No Chill

“Finding it extremely hard to order froyo from @thebiggchillofficial when you have to walk past tons of sugar-free cookies/other diet foods before you get to the counter,” Lovato wrote via their Instagram Story on Sunday, calling out The Bigg Chill frozen yogurt shop in Los Angeles. “Do better please. #dietculturevultures.”

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The Bigg Chill Reacts

“We carry items for Diabetics, Celiac disease, Vegan and of course have many indulgent items as well,” the store, which has been serving the L.A. area for more than 30 years, replied back via their Instagram Story.

Credit: Courtesy of Demi Lovato/Instagram

Private War Made Public

The former Disney Channel star clapped back, sharing screenshots of their DMs conversations with The Bigg Chill on social media. “We are not diet vultures. We cater to all of our customers’ needs for the past 36 years. We are sorry you found this offensive,” the company wrote to the singer.

Lovato then attacked the shop’s lack of service, admitting their time there was not pleasant. “Not just that. Your service was terrible. So rude,” they wrote. “The whole experience was triggering and awful. You can carry things for other people while also caring for another percentage of your customers who struggle DAILY just to even step foot in your store. You can find a way to provide an inviting environment for all people with different needs. Including eating disorders — one of the deadliest mental illnesses only second to (opioid) overdoses. Don’t make excuses, just do better.”

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Coming for All Diet Culture Vultures

“So I think I’m gonna have to make that hashtag a thing,” Lovato wrote via their Instagram Story on Sunday. “I will be calling harmful messaging from brands or companies that perpetuate a society that not only enables but praises disordered eating. #dietculturecultures.”

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Call for More Transparency

The “Cool for Summer” musician then made suggestions on how The Bigg Chill could be more transparent and helpful toward those struggling with eating disorders. “I was thinking, maybe it would help if you made it more clear that the sugar-free options and vegan options are for that. Labeling the snacks for celiac or diabetes or vegans,” Lovato explained. “When it’s not super clear, the messaging gets confusing and being in LA it’s really hard to distinguish diet culture vs health needs.” They concluded: “You aren’t wrong for catering to many different needs but it’s about not excluding one demographic to cater to others.”

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Leah McSweeney Slams Demi for Comments

The Bravo personality clapped back at Lovato on Sunday for their attack on the yogurt company. “Demi Lovato should be ashamed of herself for using her platform of 102 million people following her on Instagram to drag a frozen yogurt spot because she’s mad that they sell diet frozen yogurt and sugar-free options because that triggers her,” McSweeney said in a series of videos on her Instagram Story. “Therefore, they should just be harassed and go out of business. What the f–k? I mean, I’m sorry that she had to deal with an eating disorder. That’s terrible. But does that mean that we have to stop offering people sugar-free options for things?”

The reality star continued: “What about people who just don’t want to f–king eat regular ice cream and want to eat some sugar-free frozen yogurt? I want that s–t sometimes. The ultimate privilege is to just use your platform with millions and millions of people to drag a f–king business with 6,000 followers on Instagram who have been doing their thing since the ’80s. This story just f–king irks me. It’s absolutely disgusting.”

Credit: Courtesy of Demi Lovato/Instagram; Shutterstock

Jameela Jamil Gets Involved

The Good Place alum came to Lovato’s defense on Monday, explaining at although she was trying to “avoid making the story bigger than it already is,” the actress noted that the singer was only asking for the company to “change the marketing of products that are for people’s medical needs.” The English star wrote via her Instagram Story that Lovato’s actions don’t “make her a monster” and they weren't trying to “disregard people’s illnesses,” instead she thinks the musician was “just one of few celebrities reminding us to look out for mental illness.”

Jamil continued: “Guilt-free is diet culture terminology. We need to stop using that f—king term. What in the shame of s—t and hell is there to feel guilty about. That’s a term of shame. Orthorexia (sic) is easy to split into and is a F—KING nightmare to crawl out of. I think it’s good to keep raising awareness on this matter until eating disorder rhetoric is OUT of our normalized mainstream culture.”

Credit: Courtesy of Demi Lovato/Instagram

Sorry for Shaming

"When I messaged this froyo place, like originally, I wanted to make a point and I wanted to call out behaviors or branding things that didn't sit right with me," Lovato said in an Instagram video on Monday. "The truth of the matter is that as someone that ... is in recovery from an eating disorder, I still to this day have a hard time walking into a fro-yo shop, ordering yogurt, and being content with it and keeping it down."

They explained that after walking to the counter past "so much diet stuff and health food stuff" they weren't able to order because they felt so distressed. "If there was a sign that said celiac or vegan, I would've understood. Because it wasn't clear, I definitely jumped to conclusions,” the Camp Rock star explained. “I probably shouldn't have gone about this the way that I have. I'm willing to talk to this froyo shop to help get the messaging right."

Lovato admitted that they are “sorry” that they got the “messaging wrong” and that they “may have disappointed some people” with how they reacted. “I'm not coming after a small business as someone with a lot of followers, that's not what I'm doing here," the singer said. "I walked into a situation that didn't sit right with me, my intuition said to speak up about this so I did and I feel good about that."

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Still Passionate

Lovato reflected on the Big Chill controversy during a June 2021 Facebook Live interview with Audacy Check In, saying, "Every time I've made a statement over Instagram or Twitter, I felt like it's gotten lost in translation a little bit.” They didn’t name the yogurt shop this time around, but the singer did expand on their initial statements about diet culture.

"It was me talking about something I was very passionate about pertaining to the diet culture and I realized that because I was so passionate … I let my emotions get the best of me and it didn't allow me to explain where I was coming from as easily as it would have been on a podcast,” they said. "I just thought going forward, I want to have conversations where people can see my face, they can hear my voice and they can see that I'm still learning as well as the rest of the world."

The “4D With Demi Lovato” podcast host noted, “[I am by] no means an expert on many, many things, but I’m willing to learn about it and I'm willing to continue to have conversations that either educate me or others on how to make this world a better place."