Are you familiar with Demi Lovato’s twin sister, Poot? For those that aren’t Extremely Online, Poot apparently spent most of her life apparently living in a basement, but entered mainstream culture after a photo of them went viral in 2015.
I’m joking! Poot isn’t a living, breathing person. It’s certainly not Demi’s twin. But Poot is very real to those who turned an unflattering picture of Demi into a viral internet meme.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Who is Poot Lovato?
Demi’s fictional twin sister was created—as many great things are—by fans on Tumblr.
It started with a photo of Demi, taken on the red carpet of her 2014 Royal Variety Performance at the Palladium Theatre. The original image—a washed-out, overly-lit fan photo—was edited to make the singer and actresses’ face look wider. Her hairline was also pushed back.
In October 2015, the doctored image was shared to Tumblr and Poot was born. In a post sharing the image, a Tumblr user wrote: “Demi’s twin sister. She was locked in a basement her whole life. This picture was taken the first time she went outside. Her name is Poot.” From there, the image spread like wildfire across Tumblr before making its way to other social media sites, namely Twitter, now known as X.
How did the image spread?
According to Know Your Meme, the image became popular almost instantly on Tumblr. It wasn’t long after that social media accounts began photoshopping the image even further.
Some also added to the Poot lore.
Others even allegedly attempted to create a Wikipedia page for Poot, but it was removed after being identified as a hoax.
How do people use the Poot Lovato meme?
Poot Lovato is a highly specific meme, usually centered entirely around its subject and not as commonly utilized for reactions or commentary. But while many people trot out Poot to just to talk about Poot, sometimes a proper image of Demi is placed next to the image of Poot as a comparison between something great and something a little odd. As with all memes, they ultimately are whatever you make of them.
@br1tneyspear5 please stop ur hate you don't even know me, #istandwithpoot pic.twitter.com/wIFyW7OLxF
— Poot Lovato (@itmepootpoot) October 27, 2015
Criticism of the meme
But not everyone loves Poot. A number of online users have called out the meme for being “ableist” and “ridiculous.”
“Do y’all really think it’s FUNNY to joke about a child (fictional or not) being locked in a basement and mistreated for 24 years because she was disabled or deformed?” read one post from 2015. “You realize that’s a thing that… has actually happened. And does actually happen.”
Others have said that the meme is misogynistic because it was uploaded without Demi’s consent, especially because the star has been vocal in the past about issues with her body image.
What does Demi think about Poot?
At first, Demi wasn’t amused. But she’s since come around.
According to Mashable, around the time the photo first went viral, Demi said that it was, “Cool to see a shitty angle turn into a meme that circulates the Internet to people’s amusement ha.” Demi has since deleted the tweet. Then, in 2017, Lovato tweeted a photo of Poot without a caption.
— Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) April 3, 2017
Indeed, it looks like Lovato’s feelings toward her faux twin sister have softened.
During an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in June 2023, Lovato said it “sucked” when the image first went viral because she thought someone had taken a bad photo of her. Upon learning the image was doctored, however, see came around (kind of.) “Later I felt better about it because I realized it wasn’t my face,” she said. She added that the meme now is “really funny to look back on.”
And Lovato may have gotten the last laugh. For her 31st birthday, the singer apparently celebrated with Poot-themed cupcakes.
Where is Poot Lovato today?
People just aren’t talking about Poot now as much as they were seven or eight years ago, but that doesn’t mean she’s completely disappeared from the public’s memory. In 2023, Hailey Bieber was photographed with a hairstyle that many said resembled Poot’s.
@theinternetisajoke #stitch with @E! News poot doop 😔 #haileybieber #poot #demilovato #demipoot #tiffany #haileybiebertiffany ♬ original sound – bleona
“Poot made a comeback,” the TikTok user who posted the video wrote via text overlay. Despite the meme now being nearly a decade old, viewers were familiar with the fictional character.
“Not the ‘poot dupe,’” one user commented on the video.
“Don’t disrespect poot like that,” another added.
Conclusion
All these years later, it’s good to see that Demi is finally on good terms—at least publicly—with the Poot Lovato meme. In Teen Vogue, two professional photographers dished about how even a beautiful person like Demi can get turned into a meme (spoiler: lots of flashing lights played a role). But while interest in Poot might not be at its peak today, it’s never a bad idea to familiarize yourself with one of the best—and most absurd—memes of our time.
Poot Lovato meme template
Editor’s note: This article is regularly updated for relevance.
Related memes:
- Selena Gomez memes are an enduring internet favorite—despite her wish to ‘never be a meme again’
- Josh Hutcherson memes are proof that he can’t help but go viral, over and over again
- The hypnotizing Miley Cyrus eyes meme
- What is the ‘Emotional Damage’ meme?
