After the world learned the devastating news that Demi Lovato had been hospitalized amid a drug overdose on July 24, speculation emerged claiming she might have been using heroin, which sources in her camp denied to various media outlets.
Now, three weeks later — with Demi recovering and in rehab — TMZ is reporting on exactly what its sources say Demi took on that fateful day. The pop star, sources tell TMZ, was using oxycodone they believe was laced with fentanyl — the same drug that caused music legend Prince’s OD death in 2016.
The night of July 23, Demi attended a birthday celebration for a dancer friend at the famed Saddle Ranch Chop House on the Sunset Strip where multiple reports later revealed she was smiling and laughing as she socialized with friends. But early the next morning at around 4 a.m., she texted her drug dealer and asked for a meet-up, sources tell TMZ.
“After the drug dealer got the text, he came to her house and we’re told the 2 freebased oxycodone on tin foil,” TMZ writes.
What Demi didn’t know, those sources claim, is that the dealer was buying “dirty drugs” from Mexico — and this batch appeared to be laced with fentanyl, a drug that’s 100 times stronger than morphine.
Sources told TMZ that the dealer — whom Demi is believed to have been using April, when she seems to have broken six years of sobriety — left the pop star’s home after seeing her breathing heavily in bed.
TMZ previously reported that someone on Demi’s staff believed to be an assistant or a bodyguard found her unresponsive in her room around 11 a.m. — they’d checked on her because she hadn’t come out — and called 911. Multiple reports reveal Narcan — a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose — was administered.
Demi initially, at least, either refused or was unable to tell medical staff what drugs she’d been using, TMZ reported. Paramedics reportedly did not find drugs at her home when they arrived.
She spent nearly two weeks recovering at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles before flying to an unknown rehab facility after being released on Aug. 4.
After less than a week in treatment, Demi — who turns 26 on Aug. 20 — and her mother flew to Chicago on a private jet on Aug. 10 to meet with a psychiatrist who specializes in mental health, sobriety and overall wellness. The trip was organized and recommended by her doctors, TMZ reported.
Demi’s camp has yet to comment on the specifics of her overdose. On Aug. 5, Demi herself took to Instagram to thank God, her fans, her family and the healthcare team that saved her life. “I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery,” she wrote. “The love you have all shown me will never be forgotten and I look forward to the day where I can say I came out on the other side. I will keep fighting.”
