Demi Lovato’s ex Max Ehrich says he learned they broke up via tabloids

 Max Ehrich  broke the silence about his and  Demi Lovato ’s split in a surprising way. The 29-year-old Under the Dome star took to his Instagram Stories on Saturday, September 26 to tell his side of the story. “Imagine finding out to the status of your relationship through a tabloid…” he began in a text post. “While your in the middle of filming a biopic movie about a Pastor in a Christian Church whose intention of the film is to help people.”

© @maxehrich

“God Bless,” Max wrote in his final IG Story slide along with a dove emoji. Clearly he’s upset with the way things ended, but of course there are two sides to every story. After a whirlwind six month courtship, news broke this week that the pair called off their engagement.

A source “with knowledge of the situation” told PEOPLE that “it was a tough decision, but Demi and Max have decided to go their separate ways to focus on their respective careers.” Things seemed to end on a positive note, as they said: “They have respect and love for one another and will always cherish the time they spent together.”

© Angelo Kritikos

Multiple sources confirmed that the couple hit rough waters in the last few weeks as they began to return to work. “Demi and Max were basically together 24/7 for months,” one told PEOPLE. “They lived in a bubble with zero stress, and everything was just fun. Now they are both working and are on separate coasts.” And apparently they couldn’t handle the distance.

Another insider faults Max’s fast rise to fame. “Max shot up in fame, and it‘s been hard,” they told PEOPLE. “He got wrapped up in [Hollywood].” Their breakup is on the tail end of old screenshots and videos (allegedly linked to Max) surfacing on Twitter. In them, Max professed his love for Demi’s once-BFF  Selena Gomez , among other stars. Demi took to Instagram to slam the news, saying those posts were “fake” and “doctored.”

According to a source from E! News, Demi realized “she didn’t know who Max truly was and didn’t think he had good intentions.” Of course, we won’t know the truth until both sides speak out.