Demi Lovato has apologised following backlash after her recent trip to Israel.
The 27-year-old singer recently travelled to the Holy Land, where she was baptised in the Jordan River and visited Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem.
She described the journey as leaving her feeling spiritually "renewed" in a post on her Instagram page, but many of her followers were quick to accuse her of promoting or supporting Israel, amid the country's conflict with Palestine.
Addressing the backlash on her Instagram page, Demi insisted she was unaware that taking a trip to Israel could be construed as her taking a political stance on the long-running conflict, but apologised to those she had offended.
"I accepted a free trip to Israel in exchange for a few posts. No one told me there would be anything wrong with going or that I could possibly be offending anyone," she wrote. "With that being said, I'm sorry if I've hurt or offended anyone, that was not my intention."
Adding that nobody had told her about the "potential backlash" she may face by visiting the country, Demi continued: "This was meant to be a spiritual experience for me, NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT. Now I realise it hurt people and for that I'm sorry. Sorry I'm not more educated, and sorry for thinking this trip was just a spiritual experience."
The Confident singer said she was "going against all advice" by posting the apology, but was doing so "because it feels right to me".
"I'd rather get in trouble for being authentic to myself than staying quiet to please other people," she concluded. "I love my fans, all of them, from all over the world."
