EXCLUSIVE REPORT
Demi Lovato, who became a judge on "The X Factor" U.S. in the show's second season in 2012, announced on January 3, 2013 that she's taking a break from Twitter. Her announcement comes at a time when she is waiting to hear from "X Factor" executives if she will be asked back for the show's third season in 2013. As previously reported, there are rumors that she will be fired, and insiders say that Lovato is desperate to keep her "X Factor" job. (Her "X Factor" salary was reportedly a little over $1 million in 2012, and Lovato expects to get a raise if she continues on the show in 2013.) A source also says that Lovato is avoiding Twitter for a while in case she ends up getting fired from "The X Factor."
On January 3, 2013, Lovato tweeted: "Blehh. I really love my fans but I hate gossip sites... Gonna take a breather from twitter.. I love y'all!"
Earlier that day, Lovato tweeted: "I don't get how people get 'stories' from very vague twitter posts... About friendship.....??"
Lovato, 20, may have been annoyed by recent false rumors that spread on the Internet about her love life. One rumor said that she was spending New Year's Eve on a romantic vacation in the Bahamas with her ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama. A Lovato spokesperson denied this rumor. In fact, Lovato spent New Year's Eve with friends (not Valderrama) in Punta Mita, Mexico. She tweeted about it, and paparazzi photos have surfaced of her in Mexico during the last week of December 2012.
(Punta Mita, Mexico, is where "The X Factor" U.S. co-host Mario Lopez and actress Courtney Mazza got married on December 1, 2012. Their wedding was televised on a TLC special.)
Then there are the gossipers who recently dredged up the old rumor that Lovato and One Direction's Niall Horan, 19, are dating. Lovato and Horan have admitted to having crushes on each other, but they have repeatedly said in interviews that they are just friends, they are not dating each other, and they don't want to be in a serious relationship with anyone right now because they're too busy with their careers. Even though Horan and Lovato have been saying this since April 2012, there are some in the gossip media who keep reporting it as if it's breaking news.
As for Lovato's future with "The X Factor" U.S., it will probably be announced by the end of January 2013 or in early February 2013 who has been fired from the show. In May 2012, Lovato and Britney Spears joined "The X Factor" U.S. to replace fired judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger. In October 2012, Lopez and Khloe Kardashian replaced host Steve Jones, who was fired with Abdul and Scherzinger at the end of January 2012.
Antonio "L.A." Reid, who was an "X Factor" U.S. judge since the show's first season in 2011, quit the show in December 2012 because he said he wanted to spend more time focusing on his main job as chairman/CEO of Epic Records.
For now, representatives for "The X Factor" U.S. refuse to comment on any changes the show will be making in 2013.
Lovato started off getting great reviews for her exuberant personality and her sassy banter with fellow "X Factor" U.S. judge Simon Cowell, who is an executive producer on the show and one of Lovato's "X Factor" bosses.
However, Lovato began to get a lot of backlash from the public for her decisions as a mentor. Lovato mentored the Young Adults category for solo singers ages 17 to 24. The first controversial decision that she made was to eliminate popular contestant Jillian Jensen, 20, who bonded with Lovato during her "X Factor" audition because Jensen talked about being bullied when she was younger, which is an experience that Lovato says also happened to her when she was in school. Lovato was also disliked by fans of heavily tattooed contestant Vino Alan, 40, who was repeatedly told by Lovato that he "didn't look like a pop star." (Alan ultimately came in seventh place.)
Lovato also got a lot of criticism from Cowell, Reid and many "X Factor" viewers for the extreme image makeovers that she gave to the female Young Adult contestants who made it to the live episodes. Lovato's makeover of CeCe Frey, 21, got the most criticism, as Frey's hair was changed from brunette to platinum blonde, Frey was given a flashier wardrobe, and Frey was generally made to like pop singer Ke$ha. In the end, none of Lovato's mentored contestants made it to the Top 5. Frey was the highest-placing contestant (sixth place) in Lovato's mentored group.
In addition, the rapport between Cowell and Lovato began to get very mean-spirited, as their disagreements turned into ugly personal insults against each other while they were on TV. They would repeatedly attack each other about each other's age and love lives. Lovato often accused Cowell, 53, of being old and out-of-touch with what young people like. Cowell would often call Lovato a "brat" and said she was too young and inexperienced to be a good mentor, thereby making it obvious that he was regretting his decision to hire her. And at times they would go completely off-topic and make rude comments to each other by saying there was very little chance that anyone would want to marry them. The childish arguing between Cowell and Lovato turned off a lot of viewers, who expressed their disgust on the Internet.
An insider says, "Demi really wants to keep her job on 'The X Factor.' There was a lot of tension between her and Simon that she tried to fix by the end of the season, but it may have been too late. She was very touchy-feely with Simon in the season finale, but that doesn't mean anything if most of the people in charge want her gone."
Another source adds, "Demi sometimes disappears from the public eye when she and her handlers want to avoid talking about things that have to do with her state of mind. Her love life is always being gossiped about, so there's more to her Twitter break than she's letting on to her fans. She may be bracing herself for getting fired from 'The X Factor.'"
Lovato has been very open with the public about her personal struggles, including being bipolar and her recovery from substance abuse, eating disorders and self-harming. She has been in rehab for all of these issues. Lovato has hinted in interviews that she has relapsed in the past, but she remains vague on when the relapse(s) happened.
It is unknown at this point if Lovato will be attending the 2013 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles on January 9. Lovato is nominated for three prizes at the show: Favorite Celebrity Judge, Favorite Pop Artist and Favorite Music Fan Following.
It's common knowledge among industry insiders that the People's Choice Award winners are told in advance that they won so that they will be at the ceremony. That's why almost all of the nominees who lose don't bother to show up, unless they are performers or presenters on the show. On January 4, 2013, the People's Choice Awards announced an updated list of several celebrities who are confirmed to attend the show this year, but Lovato was not on the list of announced celebrities.
In 2012, Lovato won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Pop Artist, and she performed her hit "Give Your Heart a Break" on the show.
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