Demi Lovato took a playful turn this Halloween by bringing back one of the internet’s most memorable memes: Paw.
The Quick singer surprised fans on Oct. 30 by sharing a series of Instagram posts in which she was fully dressed as the fictional character, who first became a viral sensation nearly a decade ago.
What’s the story behind Demi Lovato’s Paw meme?
The meme dates back to 2015, when a fan-made, blurred photo of Lovato circulated online.
Tumblr users jokingly created a story claiming the photo was of her long-lost twin sister Poot, who had supposedly lived her entire life locked in a basement.
The bizarre story quickly exploded and Poot became one of the internet’s favorite running jokes.
Demi Lovato is bringing Poot back on Halloween 2025
Lovato, now 33, leaned into that history with a spot-on recreation. She posted the original photo alongside her updated look, capturing the same pale face and awkward pose.
She even staged photos in her garage to make it look like Poot was lurking in the shadows. A TikTok followed, showing her as Poot, screaming for help as she tried to escape the garage.
She didn’t stop there. Lovato joined the trending Tour of the house format on TikTok, pretending to show off Poot’s unusual home setup: bubble wrap, a water heater and cleaning supplies.
Another photo showed her as Poot, with the original photo tucked into her makeup bag. She capped off the carousel with a behind-the-scenes video of her glam team transforming her into the character.
“happy halloween and happy week of intd!!! got so locked up in this era i thought i’d let pootvato out,” she wrote in her caption.
Her husband, Jutes, gave his approval, saying, “Okay, Halloween is over for everyone. Pack it up. It’s Demi’s this year, better luck next year.”
Demi Lovato’s response to the Poot meme
This isn’t the first time Lovato has embraced the meme.
She recently took in a brief appearance of Poot Quick music video released on August 1.
She said in September PAPER magazine that she has learned to enjoy the jokes made about her.
“An incredible, powerful way to take back power is to own the memes,” she said. “Because if I laugh, no one can laugh at me. I laugh at myself.”
She previously joked about Poot on TikTok with a clip titled, “If someone asks me to let Poot out of the basement…” before lip-syncing, “Wow, what an offer.” At the time, she added, “And I’ll never let her out.”
Lovato even celebrated her birthday in August 2023 with a cake with the famous Poot image.
Speak with Harper’s BAZAAR in July, she said she initially felt uncomfortable when the photo went viral.
“When Poot went viral, it actually sucked because I thought it was a real photo of me,” she said.
“And I thought, ‘Oh no. That’s a really bad angle.’ But Poot was photoshopped. Later I felt better about it because I realized this wasn’t my face.”
She also noted that the moment felt strange at the time, but admitted that it is “really funny to look back on.”
After almost a decade, Lovato’s revival of the meme proved that she’s still willing to make fun of herself, and fans were more than happy to welcome Poot back for Halloween.
