Artist Draws Demi Lovato As Mermaid, She Calls Him Out For Body Shaming

A few months ago, Vladimir Serbanescu, a 17-year-old artist from Romania, drew this image of Demi Lovato as a mermaid and shared it on Instagram.

The drawing recently came up again and didn't go down well with the singer. Lovato commented on a repost of the photo saying that although the drawing was “gorgeous” it was not how her body looks.

She wrote: “Is that how my boobs should look? It’s gorgeous but that’s not my body”

Lovato has previously spoken out about her body image, as well as her eating disorder.

“I’ve been open about my struggles because part of my recovery includes being honest with myself and others, and I’m inspired to use my success as a platform to help others suffering,” she told BuzzFeed last year.

Lovato’s comment upset Serbanescu, and he re-uploaded the drawing with a caption that said it wasn’t intended to be a realistic image, and that he was no longer proud of his work.

The caption read:

“If I make your waist slimmer and your boobs bigger to accentuate the fact that I drew you as a mermaid, a mythological creature, doesn’t mean I say that you should look like that or all girls should look like that. That’s how I imagine mermaids. I worked a lot on that drawing and i was proud of it, but not anymore.”

This led on to another Twitter user editing the drawing to make Lovato's body larger. The image went viral too. 

The picture prompted a backlash, with many people quickly coming to Lovato’s defence and saying she has consistently spoken about body positivity.

People said the edited drawing body-shamed Lovato, and that it was uncalled for as she had “politely” asked for the original drawing to reflect her real shape and size.

Others tweeted that the edited drawing was harmful, and that Lovato was being unfairly targeted.

Oooohhhh dear.