Demi Lovato Continues Fight Against Bullying With New Campaign

Demi Lovato is continuing to fight back against bullies.

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The X Factor judge has teamed up with Secret deodorant for their “Mean Stinks” campaign to end bullying, which encourages girls to “gang up for good.”

“I had a really tough time when I was in middle school,” Lovato told People. “People would write ‘hate petitions’ [about me] and send them around to be signed. They’d have CD-bashing parties of my demos. They’d come to my house, stand across the street and yell things. I was a very emotional time for me, and all I wanted to do was get away.”

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Following a brief stint in rehab to treat bulimia and cutting nearly two years ago, Lovato has been vocal in her stance against teenage bullying. On Thursday, the pop star surprised students at New York City’s Young Women’s Leadership School to discuss the program, asking girls to pledge to have a “Drama Free School Year” by painting blue nail polish on their pinky fingers – a symbolic pinky swear.

“I’ll definitely be wearing [the nail polish] starting soon,” Lovato said. “It’s a conversation starter: ‘Hey, why is your pinky blue?’‘This is a pinky promise that I’m not going to bully people, that me and my friends are ganging up for good.’”

As part of the initiative, Secret is donating $1 (up to $150,000) from each purchase of their Mean Sinks Clinical Strength deodorant to the cause. More information can be found via Secret’s Facebook Page.

Lovato can be seen on Thursday’s episode of The X Factor, airing on Fox at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Email: Sophie.Schillaci@thr.com; Twitter: @SophieSchillaci