AceShowbiz - NBC officials appeared to censor Demi Lovato's plea for fans to vote in the upcoming U.S. election during her performance at the Billboard Music Awards on Wednesday (14Oct20) night.

The 28-year-old star took to the stage to perform her latest song, "Commander in Chief", which takes aim at incumbent leader Donald Trump, with lines like, "Do you even know the truth? / We're in a state of crisis, people are dyin' / While you line your pockets deep."

In footage obtained by TMZ, the word "vote" was splashed up on the stage behind her after she concluded the song but, in the final broadcast, the camera cut to a close up of the singer when the music stopped.

Sources told the outlet bosses felt that, because "Commander in Chief" was an anti-Trump song, the "vote" message was too clearly a call to vote against him. The network is also set to host a town hall with Trump on Thursday evening.

Lovato hasn't held back in her criticism of the president and, while the track prompted an intense response on Instagram, with some fans slamming the star and suggesting her political stance could "ruin" her career, she insisted she "literally doesn't care."

"This isn't about that. My career isn't about that," she told fans on Instagram. "I made a piece of art that stands for something I believe in. And I'm putting it out even at the risk of losing fans. I'll take integrity in my work over sales any day."