Demi Lovato & The Jonas Brothers' Friendship Has Evolved A Lot Over 12 Years
Demi Lovato and the Nick, Kevin, and Joe Jonas (aka, The Jonas Brothers) go way back, all the way to 2008's Disney Channel original movie Camp Rock. The foursome were a pretty tight group of friends. They supported each others' shows, attended A-list events together, wrote music together, and Lovato even dated one of them. But it's been twelve years since, and some may wonder if Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers are still friends. Well, it's complicated.
In the early years of the foursome's friendship and the heat of Camp Rock-mania, Lovato dated Joe Jonas in March 2010. Sadly for Mitchie and Shane shippers everywhere, the real-life couple broke up two months later, but they remained friends. As it turned out, Lovato also walked away with Joe's brother Nick as a new BFF.
"[Demi and I] became even closer because it was never going to be romantic," Nick told Billboard in a joint interview with Lovato in July 2016. "[We] were productive — we'd write songs about [their relationship]."
Over the course of the next six years, Lovato and Nick fostered a super close friendship on and off the stage. In December 2014, they sang a duet together at KIIS FM's Jingle Ball, and in May 2016, they appeared in an episode of Carpool Karaoke with James Corden.
Clearly, Lovato and Nick were joined at the hip, by this point. While she wasn't spotted as often with her ex Joe, he spoke highly of their continued friendship in a joint interview with Lovato for Access in September 2016.
"I don't think we would have any idea we'd be this close, and have done multiple tours," Joe said of his relationship with Lovato.
"It's cool to be able to have friends in this music business, but also, it's different. We are family at this point," he explained, while Lovato nodded in agreement.
Despite being exes, Lovato and Joe have performed their Camp Rock songs together, often. Here they are singing Camp Rock 2's "Wouldn't Change A Thing" on Oct. 27, 2014 at the Brooklyn stop on Lovato's world tour.
Even though Lovato considered the Jonas Brothers to be family, rumors circled that she and Nick were romantically linked after the release of her 2017 album, Tell Me You Love Me. It featured a song called "Ruin The Friendship," in which she talks about a friendship she'd like to "ruin" by becoming more than friends. She acknowledged the rumors in an October 2017 interview on The Ellen Show, saying, "You know, something that I will always keep to myself is? Who I write my songs about."
This is around the time Lovato and Nick began pulling back from mentioning each other publicly, leading fans to believe they weren't as close as the once were. But who knows? They could've been meeting up and hanging out, and just not broadcasting it to the world.
In July 2018, Lovato was hospitalized after an overdose and learning this hit her longtime friends hard. Despite the lack of public communication, Nick and Joe urged their fans to pray for Lovato on Twitter.
Four months later, Lovato reportedly unfollowed Nick on Instagram. Fans worried Lovato and Nick's friendship turned sour, and became even more uncertain when she wasn't present at his wedding to Priyanka Chopra, in December 2018. It's unclear why she didn't attend, but she could have been been focused on her health at that time, which would be totally understandable."
Lovato reignited the mystery surrounding her relationship status with the Jonas Brothers on March 6. She released the visual for her single "I Love Me," and, in it, Lovato reflects on her past, including her relationship with Kevin, Nick, and Joe. At the 2:09 mark, she smirks at three brown-haired guys dressed in shiny suits that look awfully close to the ones the Jonas Brothers wore to the 2020 Grammys.
2020 Grammy Awards vs. Lovato's music video:
It's unclear whether the "nod" was out of respect or shade — and fans are definitely torn. Considering their long and complicated friendship, Lovato and the Jonas Brothers might not be as close as they used to be, but their connection seems unbreakable.
