Singer Demi Lovato has become a paid promoter for a New Age conspiracy-theory website, directing their fans to a video platform filled with hoaxes about sinister aliens, vaccines, world-spanning cabals, and reptilian overlords.
Lovato, who uses they/them pronouns, announced last week that they had become an “ambassador” for streaming video site Gaia. While Gaia’s video collections also include yoga videos, Lovato made clear that their focus was on the site’s conspiratorial content.
“Thrilled to be a @WeAreGaia ambassador,” Lovato wrote in an Instagram post to their 118 million followers. “Understanding the world around us (the known and the unknown) is so exciting to me!”
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Lovato’s endorsement of Gaia’s content about “the unknown” marks a new effort to push conspiracy-theory thinking into the mainstream, this time with Lovato’s fanbase. And for the singer, it offers a chance to make money from streaming video subscriptions.
On a Lovato-themed Gaia page for their fans, the singer’s supporters can view a free episode of a Gaia show about an “ancient space program” before signing up for a $11.99 monthly Gaia membership.
Lovato’s “handpicked favorite” shows, according to the website, include a series positing that Atlantis was real and that humanity is living in the aftermath of a battle between giants and lizard-like “reptilians.”
A representative for Lovato declined to comment on the record. Gaia didn’t respond to a request for comment.
While the claims made in the videos produced by Gaia can seem laughable, the site, which claims to have more than 750,000 members, has become a clearinghouse pushing conspiracy theories into the New Age movement. Gaia’s videos are slickly produced to look like genuine documentaries, with some featuring prominent figures in the anti-vaccine movement. The site has also been called a “hub for QAnon,” with QAnon promoters flocking to the platform after facing crackdowns from other websites.
Gaia’s own corporate culture is awash in conspiracy theories, according to a February report in Business Insider. Employees discussed QAnon and InfoWars, according to the report. Confusingly, employees were told that materials promoting a documentary about a benevolent alien species called “Blue Avians” required approval from the Blue Avians, as if they were real, Business Insider reported. Gaia denied that allegation.
Much of Gaia’s conspiratorial content is focused on aliens and UFOs, a topic dear to Lovato, who describes themself as a “UFO experiencer.” In October, they made headlines after they said extraterrestrials shouldn’t be called “aliens,” because “aliens is a derogatory term for anything.” Lovato also stars in a Peacock series chronicling a road trip they took to investigate UFOs.
While conspiracy theorists are sometimes described by critics as “falling down a rabbit hole,” Gaia used that same phrase approvingly in a press release announcing the Lovato deal. According to a Gaia press release, Lovato’s “fascination” with Gaia began when they used methods from a Gaia host, “Ufologist” Steven M. Greer, in an attempt to contact aliens.
“After several profound experiences practicing Dr. Greer’s meditation protocols intended to make contact with extraterrestrials, Lovato became enamored with the study of consciousness,” the press release reads. “Continuing down their rabbit hole, Lovato quickly fell in love with Gaia original series “Ancient Civilizations” and “Deep Space.’”
In its press release, Gaia claims Lovato’s fans want to uncover more about “the nature of reality.”
“Gaia believes the fanbase Lovato continues to cultivate has a desire to dig deeper into the more important questions regarding the nature of reality,” the statement reads.
Lovato fans who sign up for a Gaia membership will find a massive video library filled with some truly bizarre ideas about “the nature of reality,” with shows with names like Third Eye Spies: A True History of CIA Psychic Spying and 4th Dimensional Reptilian Influence. Gaia also hosts a series from British conspiracy theorist David Icke, who has promoted the idea that the world is run by reptilian lizard-people.
