Two weeks after his former fiancée, Demi Lovato, 28, released a song seemingly about the split, Max Ehrich responded with a track of his own. “It’s scary to fall in love. but it’s a risk worth taking. for in the end; all we truly need is love,” wrote Max in the Oct. 16 Instagram post announcing his song, “Afraid.” In the piano-driven ballad, Max sings how he’s “afraid to give up my heart / I’m afraid to be overthrown / but afraid to be, afraid to be alone. / And you, your so amazing / smile so sweet, makes honey taste bitter(?) / you’re so beautiful.” The theme of being “afraid to love” is something Max repeats throughout the song, including how he “doesn’t want to lose” the person the song’s about.
Demi and Max ended their engagement and six-month relationship and their two-month engagement in late September. Max, obviously, didn’t take it all that well. First, he posted a cryptic Instagram Story that indicated he found out “the status of [his] relationship through a tabloid while…in the middle of filming a biopic about a Pastor in a Christian Church whose intention of the film is to help people.” (Max was filming Southern Gospel at the time of the split.) In the early hours of Oct. 2, Max went on Instagram Live to address her new song seemingly about the breakup – “Still Have Me” – and accuse her of using their relationship as a “public relations stunt.”
“I was in love,” he continued. “The whole world should freakin’ know it. I thought I found the real deal, now I found out that I was used. But I hope the song is number one because you know what, if that’s what someone wants in the material world, here you go, you have it. I hope this makes you happy. Enjoy. You just lost someone who loved you fully, completely, infinitely, for everything.”
“If y’all wanna villainize me, say what you want at this point,” Max added. “It’s just the craziest thing. This is the most bizarre experience that I hope no one ever has to experience ever because no person deserves to feel this way.”
A week after this emotional Instagram session, Max seemingly rebounded from the heartbreak and moved on to someone new. On Oct. 13, the actor was seen with his arm wrapped around Sonika Vaid, a contestant on season 15 of American Idol. Max posted the paparazzi photo to his Instagram page, and though he didn’t caption it with anything, he tagged Sonika in the pic. A day after that, Demi was seen hanging out with Mod Sun.
Demi was disappointed by Max’s public outbursts, a source told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “After everything that’s happened, she still wishes him nothing but the best. But she just wants to move on and would like for Max to do the same,” the source said. “She is doing her best to focus on moving on and feels grateful she has an amazing support system around her of friends and family.”
