How pop star’s ‘twin who was locked in a basement her whole life’ captured the web’s creatives and fans with onslaught of Poot memes and Photoshop efforts

In the best conspiracy theory to hit the internet ever (and that’s not difficult, given that most of them are offensive in one way or another and involve terrorism), a Tumblr user has discovered the (possible) existence of pop star Demi Lovato’s twin sister, Poot Lovato. Maybe.

On 3 October, a sketch of Demi Lovato was posted by Tumblr user Versaceslut, along with the photograph it was based on – a washed-out, overly lit fan photo, probably taken at a red carpet event.

Who is Poot?

The lighting is such that Demi’s clothes are undefinable and it appears she has a shaved head with a mohawk. You might say the photograph appears to be a different person altogether. You might say it is suspicious.

The fan art, meanwhile, was in the style of the I Have Drawn You meme (hilariously crude, almost completely unaesthetic hand-drawn fan pictures). Versaceslut’s post clocked up 75,000 notes in just two weeks – before it was mysteriously deleted.

The very first introduction to Poot Lovato – but the internet didn’t know it yet. By Versaceslut. Photograph: Versaceslut/Tumblr

A week later, the same washed out, eery photograph of Demi (or, reader, the person who we thought was Demi – so “Demi”) was posted again to Tumblr, this time by user cstcrpt. Here is when we learned the real truth. Underneath the photograph, cstcrpt had written, without fanfare:

“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.”

The Poot Lovato meme was born. (Although, if Poot is Demi’s twin sister, then Poot Lovato is actually aged 23, and was born on 20 August.)

As fast as the Taylor Swift-related no its becky meme from last autumn, this Man in the Iron Mask-style yarn about the hidden Poot has captured the internet’s creatives and fans, with an onslaught of Poot memes, Photoshop efforts and Twitter one-liners.

Poot Lovato as Time’s person of the year. Photograph: http://stevenmayer-blog.tumblr.com/

Facebook Twitter Pinterest FINDING POOT. Photograph: Tumblr

The Poot memes just keep on coming. Photograph: Tumblr/operattack

diantha garcia (@dianthaaaaa) right eyebrow: does yoga, 4.0 gpa, is popular left eyebrow: poot lovato

ً (@xcuxc) what if i write poot lovato instead of my name on tomorrow's exam

Photograph: @Erinfarwellxix

soroush (@dearmrchrist) You're walking in the woods. No one is around and your phone is dead. Out of the corner of your eye you spot her. poot lovato.

Michelle (@chellelangeveld) These Poot Lovato memes are killing me 😅

Soon, we learned more about Poot and her secret life. And it isn’t pretty. On 12 October, Kayley Marie Todd started posting Poot fan-fiction to Wattpadd. Her story The Secret Life of Poot Lovato has 10 chapters so far, and Todd has told Fusion that she intends to write 12 in total. The fanfic has so far been read almost 50,000 times and is being promoted with the hashtag #FreePoot and #PootLivesMatter.



According to Todd’s serialisation of Poot’s life, it is really Poot who is responsible for some of the more unsavoury or absurd rumours that have attached themselves to Demi, the Cool for the Summer singer, in the past.

The most prominent of which is the story that made global news in August 2015, after a mischevious TwitLonger post from a sock puppet account, said that the singer had “flicked a fan’s vagina” at a meet-and-greet event and taunted the same fan about her weight and “spoke whale to her”. Lovato went as far as to deny these clearly made up rumours in the mainstream press.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Probably the best denial a celebrity has ever made. Photograph: Screengrab

Todd would have it that this real vagina-flicker was Poot, not Demi. In fact, in Todd’s tale, Poot was locked in the basement in the first place for habitual vagina-flicking. Poot doesn’t seem like a very nice person at all, in fact.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An extract from The Secret Life of Poot Lovato. Photograph: Wattpadd

Also on the day of 12 October, the @OfficialPoot handle was established and began tweeting in the voice of Poot (it is possible that Kayley Marie Todd is also behind this account). Most of the tweets are rather mean and bitter (too mean and bitter for my taste), but then, I cannot imagine it was much fun being locked in a basement for 23 years. Other tweets moot the idea of Poot starting her own pop career.



Poot Lovato (@OfficialPoot) My debut album will feature the anthem "flick it" a reject from my sis demi's album confident. Thanks for the song sis <3 @ddlovato

It’s debatable why I and the rest of the internet find this story so amusing. It’s possible that the comedy value of the word Poot is a huge part of it. But, equally, it’s the level of care and attention that has gone into the Poot Lovato meme, and her backstory. Her whole character has been fleshed out, and she is the perfect embodiment of the archetype of the evil twin.

NATHAN (@FAUXNATH) I am howling at this Poot Lovato story.

oshiin (@jonasocean) i stand with poot lovato

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@moonlightgae) I'm so afraid for Demi Lovato's reputation. This Poot thing is gaining a life of it's own.

spoopy lauren™ (@ptrckstxmp) poot lovato is my hero

I contacted (Demi) Lovato’s rep for comment but have so far heard nothing back – nor have her three other siblings aside from Poot commented to confirm or deny the rumour.

A Wikipedia entry set up for Poot Lovato has unfortunately already been removed as a “hoax” (a cover-up operation, I bet), but now that Poot’s story is spreading fast across the internet it will be hard to stop this one from gathering more attention.

I fully expect a denial in the mainstream press from Demi, along the lines that she does not have a twin sister named Poot that she keeps locked in a basement and has done for 23 years. But then, she would say that, wouldn’t she?