Demi Lovato Said She Was ‘1 Percent African’ and Twitter Went for the Jugular
Actor and singer Demi Lovato has been outspoken about a number of topics including body positivity and the stigma surrounding mental illness. She may want to remove her thoughts on the origins of the human species as it relates to Africa and her own racial makeup from that list after being dragged on Twitter this weekend.
I did a DNA test and found out I’m mainly Spanish, with Native American, SCANDINAVIAN (which I had NO idea), Irish, BRITISH….
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) February 25, 2017
And I’m 1% African!!!!
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) February 25, 2017
“I did a DNA test and found out I’m mainly Spanish, with Native American, SCANDINAVIAN (which I had NO idea), Irish, BRITISH…. And I’m 1% African!!!!” The pop singer tweeted Friday.
Twitter users who caught wind of Lovato’s discovery didn’t share her enthusiasm, and she proceeded to take a massive L.
@ddlovato everyone’s got a little bit of African in them. No matter where we come from. #biology #evolution
— Edrie Ablola † (@Its_me_edrie) February 25, 2017
@ddlovato pic.twitter.com/byZGuIOaTo
— cx cope (@cxcope) February 25, 2017
@_JadaScott @Flawless_Demi_ @ddlovato lmaooo not Sonny with a Chance pic.twitter.com/ykIrBL0AzF
— Queen Keekee ? (@keekee_mama) February 25, 2017
@ddlovato pic.twitter.com/o7fUCvw9dC
— ⤵︎ (@eleminated) February 25, 2017
Lovato probably could’ve avoided the situation if she framed her point differently or had done a cursory Google search on the matter.
“Researchers led by Ulf Gyllensten of the University of Uppsala in Sweden have found evidence that we are all descended from a single ancestral group that lived in Africa about 170,000 years ago,” noted Jeremy Thomson in a report for the International Weekly Journal of Science. “And they suggest that modern humans spread across the globe from Africa in an exodus that took place only around 50,000 years ago.”
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) February 25, 2017
Just thought it was cool and totally random. Some of y’all are mean af. Twitter sucks. ?
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) February 25, 2017
Once the negative replies came in, Lovato posted a picture of the aforementioned test. But Twitter clearly wasn’t having it, and the roasting continued. In the end, Demi learned at least two valuable lessons: Twitter can be a mean place sometimes, and there is scientific evidence to back up the belief that humans originated from Africa.
[youtube ytid=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlZtqvMiOl4&w=560&h=315%5D
