Demi Lovato and Mom Dianna in happier times

Update to our initial post on Demi Lovato leaving tour and checking into rehab.

According to People.com, on most of her nights off, Demi invites her band, dancers and her parents to dinner. On the night in question, she broke off with a very small group after the meal. The following day, tour managers and Lovato’s stepfather, Eddie De La Garza, questioned the group’s “conduct,” as there were reports that the group had been partying.

Tour management got wind of this and talked with all the people involved, including Demi.  Subsequently Demi was under the impression that someone on tour had told on her and believed that person to be a young, female dancer, now identified as Alex Welch aka BGirl Shorty (pictured below). Lovato then confronted the young dancer while the group was onboard a plane later that same day.  Allegedly an altercation ensued which was one-sided, became physical and was brief. It is rumored that Lovato punched Welch in the eye.

As a result of her behavior Demi Lovato chose to take steps to get necessary help by entering rehab.

Contrary to several reports in the media, Actress Ashley Greene (Twilight), who is dating Lovato’s ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas, played no role in this incident nor did the Joe or any of the Jonas Brothers.

In other news, Bang Showbiz is reporting that Demi Lovato’s family members are upset by Demi’s estranged father Patrick’s comments about her checking into rehab.  He allegedly stated that the pressures of being a child star “was one of the things I worried about when she signed with Disney.”  In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Patrick Lovato was quoted as saying: “I kept those emotions to myself because Dianna was so excited, I didn’t want to burst anyone’s bubble.  But always in the back of my mind, I was concerned. Because at that young age, it’s really hard. She worked 300 out of 365 days touring, and then of course when you get back into town, you’ve got all the promotional stuff. I’m sure she sees the things she missed out on, schoolmates and things.”

Alex Welch

Welch is a member of the dance troupe Beat Freaks, which were the runners-up on season 3 of America’s Best Dance Crew. She’s currently on the Jonas Brothers tour.

Demi, 18, revealed in a prior interview that she hadn’t spoken to her birth father Patrick for two years, stating “When somebody lets you down after you’ve been the only one there for them. I had to cut off all connection. It was hurting me too much.”  Patrick has since claimed he was misquoted about his daughter and would neither blame Disney or Dianna for Demi’s situation.  Patrick and Demi’s mother Dianna divorced in 1994 and Demi’s immediate family insists Patrick Lovato knows nothing about Demi and he has allegedly been warned by her representatives to stop talking.

Demi’s uncle Francisco Lovato, presumably the brother of Patrick, spoke to TooFab.com reporting that he saw signs of exhaustion in his niece when he met up with her at a concert last summer.

“I personally think it has a lot to do with pushing these kids.  I saw Demi in August, I went to one of her concerts with The Jonas Brothers outside of Sacramento, and she totally rocked it out, and did a great show, there was great energy.  She was in good spirits it seemed, but [sic] the one thing I said to her was ‘Demi, you’re working hard, and I know people love your talent, and you’re busting it out,’ but then she turned around and looked at me with a major look of seriousness, and she said to me, ‘Look, I work really hard.’”

Lovato’s Attorney Jamie Young has told the New York Post newspaper: “No one speaks for Demi except for her designated representatives.

Disney wishes Demi Lovato well via a public statement which reads: “We support Demi’s decision to put her health first and we send her our best wishes.”