Demi Lovato ripped Instagram on Friday, calling out the photo-sharing app on her own account for posting a “harmful” and “fat-shaming” video game advertisement.
Singer/actress Lovato posted a screenshot of an ad for “Game of Sultans,” a game that, in its App Store description, says it allows players to “assemble your harem” and “raise a family – Lovingly raise your children from childbirth to young adults!”
In the screenshot, which Lovato shared on her Instagram Story, the ad highlights two women, one who is “obese” and one who is “pretty.” Players are then able to pick what the women eat, with the “obese” character being offered a “controlled” broccoli-filled diet.
“Why is this fat shaming bulls— on my feed? So many things wrong with this ad,” Lovato asked.
She continued: “This is absolutely harmful to anyone who is easily influenced by societal pressures put on us from the diet culture to constantly be losing weight in a world that teaches us to equate our value and worth with the way we look and especially anyone in recovery from an eating disorder.”
Instagram immediately removed the ad when it was made aware of it, a spokesperson told TheWrap.
“We’re sorry. This ad was approved by mistake. We reviewed it again and removed it from future delivery in people’s feeds,” the spokesperson told TheWrap.
Mechanist, the game developer behind “Game of Sultans,” did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Lovato, who has been treated for compulsive overeating and bulimia, has been vocal about her battles with eating disorders in the past. In “Simply Complicated,” her 2017 YouTube documentary, the 26-year-old singer said “food is still the biggest challenge in my life” and something that she’s “constantly thinking about.”
She finished her multi-post Story by asking Instagram to “keep this bulls–t off mine and other’s feeds who could be easily effected by this disgusting advertisement. With how aware people are becoming of mental health and mental illnesses, I expect you guys to know better by allowing this advertisement to be allowed on your app. And shame on the game.”