Demi Lovato Says Being the ‘Breadwinner’ as a Child Star Affected Her Relationship with Her Parents

Demi Lovato opened up about being a child star and how it affected her family life and upbringing.

Demi Lovato spoke with Drew Barrymore on her podcast “4D With Demi Lovato” about the pressures of being a child star and how it affected her family dynamics.

The “Dancing With the Devil” singer claimed that even as a young child, when she appeared on “Barney and Friends,”

at just 8 years old, she already felt “like an adult.”

“I noticed that when I came into the spotlight at a young age, and then was the breadwinner, like you said, there wasn’t a dossier, there wasn’t a manual for my parents to read and it say, ‘Here’s what to do to raise a child star.’ They didn’t get that,” Lovato said.

“So when they would try to ground me at 17, I would say, ‘I pay the bills.’ And I cringe now when I think about that attitude,” they added. “But when the world is putting you on a pedestal, you kind of think that you could do no wrong. As I’ve gotten older, I see my parents just as big kids themselves.”

Barrymore, who became famous at the age of six thanks to her part in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” also talked about being a child star and how she didn’t set boundaries with her parents as she grew up.

“I don’t think it’s the world and the pedestal. I think it’s the parent-child dynamic that gets completely reversed. And no wonder you won’t take an order from an authority figure who’s no longer an authority figure because you’ve now reduced them down with finances and responsibilities,” the “Charlie’s Angels” star said.

She added: “I mean, I’m having amazing realizations about my own kids and how little I understood what boundaries were. I didn’t have them growing up.”

Barrymore went on to discuss her relationship with her mother, Jaid Barrymore, saying that she saw her relationship with her mom as more of a friendship than a mother-daughter relationship. 

“Therefore I had to completely relearn what parent-child dynamic is,” the mother-of-two said. The actress co-parents daughters Olive, 8, and Frankie, 7, with ex-husband Will Kopelman

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