Demi Lovato’s Assault Victim Will Sue If She Doesn’t Get Settlement

Early last month, Disney star Demi Lovato, 18, pulled out of a tour with the Jonas Brothers after an altercation at an airport with a female backup dancer. Apparently Demi punched the girl in the face for allegedly snitching on her for partying. Demi was quickly whisked off for “treatment,” with her people insisting that it was for emotional issues and was not a drug rehab. There were stories that Demi was seen doing cocaine at parties before all this went down and we’ve heard rumors for some time that she’s been doing drugs.
Now we’re hearing that the victim, dancer Alex Welch, is consulting a plastic surgeon about her injuries and is seeking a settlement from Demi. Her lawyer tells Radar Online that “Alex is seeking a settlement, an apology from Demi and a donation made to a charity of her choice.” If no settlement is reached, Welch plans to sue sometime next week. It looks like that won’t be necessary, because Welch’s lawyer tells Radar that the parties are close to reaching a settlement.
Welch has granted interviews to People Magazine and Inside Edition. She told People that Demi still hasn’t apologized, and she confirmed earlier details of the attack – that Demi accused her of snitching and punched her in the face for it. According to Welch, she isn’t the one who told on Demi for partying and she was shocked when Demi just strolled up to her on the plane, punched her in the face and walked away:

“We were on the plane with the Jonases having this awesome time and I didn’t get a call or text from Demi or a ‘hey, you got a problem with me,’ nothing. And she walks up and punches me and literally walked away and got in her seat.” – People
“Demi walked up to me and she just punched me. It was like the definition of a sucker punch!”…
“Of course there was like a shock thing about it, because I wasn’t expecting it, I had no idea why.
“It happened so fast, that’s why no one could react. It was one of those things were I was sitting there, she walked up, just punched me really hard and walked away as fast as she could,” says Welch. “My face, it immediately swelled up we put ice on it the whole ride back.”
“Did she say anything before or after hitting you?” asks [Inside Edition's] Moret.
“No I didn’t hear anything from her,” says Welch.
Dramatic photos show the bruises on Welch’s face, allegedly inflicted by Lovato. Welch says Lovato believed she’d been leaking stories about the troubled star, but Welch says that never happened.
She says, “We were friends, we were really good friends. I think that’s one of the hard things, is to think that a friend would do that.” – Inside Edition
[From People and Inside Edition]

I get why this girl wants a settlement, and I get why she’s talking to the press – to put the pressure on Demi’s people. It just seems so predictable though. Demi should face the consequences for punching this girl, whatever that may be, and I don’t blame Welch for suing. I would like to see Welch press criminal charges for assault as well. It might be complicated given that this went down on a private airplane, however. It’s unclear whether the plane was in the air at the time, but it sounds like it was.