Tag Archives: actor-continued

Demi Lovato: I Thought I’d Be Dead By Now

Demi Lovato has once again opened up about the depths of her former drug problem. Ever since she entered rehab in late 2010, the artist has been brutally honest about what led her to seek professional assistance in the first place. She had low self-esteem. She had an eating disorder. She snorted A LOT of cocaine . At one point, in fact, Lovato now admits that she thought she’d be long gone by now. As in… dead. “I lived fast and I was going to die young,” Lovato says in the latest issue of American Way. “I didn’t think I would make it to 21.” Now 23, Lovato battled drug and alcohol addictions as a teenager. She was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Through the years, the singer has spoken candidly about her personal struggles, doing the same now with the pages of American Airlines’ inflight magazine. In this cover story, Demi recalls how she used to self-medicate with alcohol, cocaine and OxyContin. Her mother, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and Lovato’s grandmother had both struggled with bulimia, according to the star. “Even though I was 2 or 3 years old,” the singer told the magazine. “Being around somebody who was 80 pounds and had an active eating disorder…it’s hard not to grow up like that.” In a previous interview, Lovato said she used to smuggle hard drugs on to airplanes . View Slideshow: 22 Times Demi Lovato Has Kept It Real But Demi says she took her last drink January 2012 and continues to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. “When I have meet-and-greets, I can’t tell you the amount of times that girls will show me their arms covered in scars or cuts,” Lovato tells American Way, having been a cutter herself as a child. “They’ll tell me, ‘You helped me get through this. Because of you, I stopped self-harming,’ or ‘I got sober.’ Hearing those things gave my life new meaning.” She concludes: “At times I was resentful for having that kind of responsibility. But now, it’s really become a part of my life. It holds me accountable.” We love and admire you, Demi Lovato.

Read more:
Demi Lovato: I Thought I’d Be Dead By Now

Jesse Williams Inspires Us All with BET Awards Speech

Jesse Williams may not have been a household name prior to the 2016 BET Awards. He's grown in popularity as a key cast member on Grey's Anatomy, but he's still flown under the Hollywood radar for the most part. That's because Williams is more likely to help out with an important cause then have lunch at The Grove… … but that's also why he was honored at the aforementioned ceremony. In accepting the Humanitarian Award, Williams earned a standing ovation, thanking both his parents and his wife before dedicating his award to “the real organizers all over the country,” those he said are realizing that “a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do.” The actor continued: “The more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize,” prior to acknowleding black women, “who have spent their lives dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.” Williams worked as a history teacher before he started acting. He's a member of the board of directors at both The Advancement Project (a national civil rights organization) and Sankofa, a social justice organization founded by Harry Belafonte. The latter works to unite artists and grassroot partners to elevate the voices of the disenfranchised. Freedom is always coming in the hereafter. But, you know what, the hereafter is a hustle. We want it now,” Williams said, concluding as follows: We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people – out of sight and out of mind – while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil, black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strained fruit. The thing is though… the thing is that just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real. Beautiful stuff. Inspiring stuff. Watch the full speech below.

The rest is here:
Jesse Williams Inspires Us All with BET Awards Speech

Jesse Williams Inspires Us All with BET Awards Speech

Jesse Williams may not have been a household name prior to the 2016 BET Awards. He's grown in popularity as a key cast member on Grey's Anatomy, but he's still flown under the Hollywood radar for the most part. That's because Williams is more likely to help out with an important cause then have lunch at The Grove… … but that's also why he was honored at the aforementioned ceremony. In accepting the Humanitarian Award, Williams earned a standing ovation, thanking both his parents and his wife before dedicating his award to “the real organizers all over the country,” those he said are realizing that “a system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do.” The actor continued: “The more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize,” prior to acknowleding black women, “who have spent their lives dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves. We can and will do better for you.” Williams worked as a history teacher before he started acting. He's a member of the board of directors at both The Advancement Project (a national civil rights organization) and Sankofa, a social justice organization founded by Harry Belafonte. The latter works to unite artists and grassroot partners to elevate the voices of the disenfranchised. Freedom is always coming in the hereafter. But, you know what, the hereafter is a hustle. We want it now,” Williams said, concluding as follows: We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people – out of sight and out of mind – while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil, black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strained fruit. The thing is though… the thing is that just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real. Beautiful stuff. Inspiring stuff. Watch the full speech below.

View post:
Jesse Williams Inspires Us All with BET Awards Speech