Poot Lovato

Edited photograph that became the Poot Lovato meme. Lovato's head was edited to appear wider.

Poot Lovato, or simply Poot, is a fictional twin sister of Demi Lovato on the Internet. Internet posts state that she was locked in a basement for much of her life. Originating on Tumblr in 2015, the character has been featured in many edits and Internet memes.

Origin

In 2014, during Demi Lovato's Royal Variety Performance at the Palladium Theatre, an overexposed photo of Lovato was taken by a fan. This photo was later edited to make her head appear wider. Poot Lovato's first mention was from a deleted Tumblr post by user Cstcrpt, which featured the edited image. The post 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.

Previously, a week before that post, a Tumblr user named Versaceslut would post a crude doodle of Demi Lovato. The sketch was based on the edited image used for Poot Lovato. Afterwards, Poot Lovato would later become an Internet meme in October 2015.

Reception

On October 12, a fanfiction called The Secret Life of Poot Lovato was posted on Wattpad. Since then, the story has garnered over 50,000 reads. In August 2023, Demi Lovato posted a TikTok video in which she celebrated her birthday with multiple birthday cakes, with one featuring Poot Lovato. Originally, Demi Lovato thought that the meme going viral "sucked" since she thought the photo of Poot was a real picture of her, but she was later reassured once she found out the photo was edited. Time Magazine published a list of "the 16 most influential fictional characters of 2015". Poot Lovato was placed in 15th place. Time noted that the meme was an example on "how Internet fandom can redefine celebrities’ carefully groomed images."