Doja Cat has opened up about her past struggles with substance abuse and how turning to the internet became part of her coping process.
On Monday (August 31), the Vie artist shared a series of videos on TikTok, where she reflected on her ongoing healing journey while also addressing some of the claims people have made about her online.
“A lot of people on the internet believe that I’m demonic — that I have demons, that I have evil in me,” she said in the first of her string of TikTok uploads.
Doja explained that the darker imagery people associate with her came from a combination of alcohol, drugs, “undiagnosed” mental illness, and the internet. Looking back on that period of her life, she admitted that she struggled with alcohol and often used social media to validate the negative thoughts in her head.
“The best example from my experience is using the internet as a means of validation to the negative thoughts in my head which were then brought on by drinking alcohol,” Doja Cat said, while clarifying that she never had serious drug problems beyond weed.
She continued: “Alcohol is something that I definitely have had a problem with. I was never an alcoholic, but I definitely had problems. So, if I can teach somebody anything and on a place where a lot of people fucking hate my guts, I will at least say that I am good for teaching you that it’s not good to pair these two things together.”
In a second TikTok video, Doja Cat revealed that she “struggled with cocaine” around eight years ago but said she is now “well past that.”
She went on to explain how mixing unaddressed mental health struggles with social media can create serious problems. Doja also encouraged people to take a moment to reflect before leaving comments online, urging them to consider whether their words come from genuine truth or are simply projections of their own feelings.
In her third TikTok post, Doja Cat addressed accusations that she hates herself, opening up about her experience as a biracial woman who struggled with her identity after moving to a “predominantly white neighborhood” when she was eight years old. She also explained that getting older helped her develop a greater appreciation for her appearance, including her hair.
“I don’t hate myself. I’m not racist. I’m not a white supremacist. I’m not a Nazi,” she said. “And I will talk about this more in the future, but I’m going to do it in a different way. I just felt like this TikTok was like necessary and I needed to get this shit off of my chest. Today felt like the right day.”
