Demi Lovato is in big trouble with fans after tweeting about a 'prank' involving a sex worker

Demi Lovato is currently on tour, going from city to city around Europe to perform in front of eager fans. And during the downtime she's got while on the bus en route to another location, or waiting at the airport for take-off, the singer has been taking to Twitter to do cheeky little Q&A rounds with her fans.

However, one question that the Sorry Not Sorry singer was asked has caused quite the stir, when they asked Demi what the "funniest prank" she ever pulled was. The 25-year-old responded with a recounted tale of a "prank" involving her security guard Max and a sex worker, and it was so controversial that she quickly decided to delete it.

"I hired a lady of the night in Vegas and sent her to Max’ hotel room to surprise him. She walked into his room without permission and grabbed him in his ‘area’ and he freaked the f*ck out hahahahaha," she wrote.

Credit: Twitter

But while Demi might have genuinely thought this was a hilarious prank, her fans were not impressed at all. Finding it difficult to see the humour in the situation, they weren't holding back when it came to pointing out what was so wrong with Demi's tweet.

They also pointed out the gender bias that circulates the topic of sexual assault, suggesting that Demi would not find it so funny if the genders were reversed. It's true that statistics show that sexual assault victims are more commonly women, but that doesn't make the issue any less serious when it happens to a man.

Some, however, chose to defend Demi for her tweet, arguing that "Demi wouldn't tweet this if Max isn't okay with it."

After noticing the angry wave of Twitter-users berating her for the post, Demi deleted her tweet and offered a sorry-not-sorry (come on, I had to) apology. "I swear I could tweet something about craving jelly beans and it would offend someone," she quipped.

But if she thought taking the defensive in this way would tone down the angry cries of Twitter, boy was she wrong. Funnily enough, people were not okay with Demi comparing sexual assault to... er, jelly beans.

It seems the friendly Q&A really got outta control fast, and things escalated dramatically. Demi saw the need to take to Twitter to comment on the whole debacle once more, this time pointing out that she of all people doesn't need to be educated on the matter. She referenced a powerful ballad of hers that she previously said touches upon "personal experiences" and perseverance through difficult times.

In the song, Demi refers to herself as a “warrior” and a “survivor” of assault by her “criminal” father. It includes lyrics like:

“I’ve got shame, I’ve got scars
That I’ll never show
I’m a survivor
In more ways than you know”.

And then, finally, she actually apologised for offending anyone with her initial tweet.

But when a fan tried to sympathise by saying "Baby…… we know you and your story," Demi replied by saying they really didn't.

Demi's father died of cancer in 2013, and she's referenced him and their complicated relationships in multiple songs.