Demi Lovato and Keke Palmer recently revisited parts of their early years that, in retrospect, feel difficult to reconcile. During Palmer’s podcast, Baby, This is Keke Palmer, the two performers reflected on dating significantly older men while they were still teenagers navigating early fame. Both began their careers young, and their conversation suggested that the environment of child stardom often blurred boundaries that seem clearer with time.
Roughly 14 minutes into the episode, Palmer paused to consider something that once felt routine. “I found myself dating — I’m 15, why is my boyfriend 20?” she said. Lovato responded with a similar recollection. “Why was my boyfriend 30? You know what I’m saying?” The moment drew a mix of surprise and recognition as the two compared experiences that, at the time, did not fully register as unusual.
Palmer acknowledged how different those situations appear now. “Girl! Damn! I’m not smiling at that, but that is real. We was trying to find outlets, though. A way to process this,” she said. Lovato described how fame created a kind of isolation that made those relationships seem easier to rationalize. “Nobody our age could understand,” she said. Looking back years later, she added, “But then you look back in hindsight—when I turned 30 I was like, ‘That’s not okay.’”
For Palmer, the realization unfolded gradually as she grew older. “The moment when you realize and you get the age that a lot of people that were around you and doing stuff, it’s almost a mental break that can happen,” she said. “Because you realize: ‘You were taking advantage of [me]. Oh, I was being exploited!’ That was very difficult for me when I realized [it].”
Lovato Says Early Fame Shaped Her View of Relationships
She explained that, at the time, the relationships felt consistent with the adult responsibilities she already carried. “At 15, I’m thinking, ‘My boyfriend’s older because I’m doing an older job. And I’m doing a bunch of things, and this is the way that it is. And it seemed normal in my mind. Especially if you’re an older soul, too. Especially if you’re mature for your age.’”
Lovato did not identify the relationship she referenced during the podcast. However, her 2022 song “29” has often been interpreted as reflecting on her past relationship with actor Wilmer Valderrama. In a 2015 interview, Lovato described how they first met during a public service campaign. “We shot a PSA together for the 2010 Census forms for Voto Latino,” she said. “We shot them at his house, so we actually met there. Of course, I was like, ‘Oh my god. You’re so attractive.’ And he was like, ‘You are not 18. Get away from me.’”
Lovato said the two remained friends before eventually beginning a relationship years later.
