Social media superstar JoJo Siwa says one company she's worked for did not have a positive reaction when she publically came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in 2021.
In a TikTok storytime video set to “Mother” by Meghan Trainor, Siwa revealed that her employer immediately hauled her into a meeting with the company's president. “During this meeting, the PRESIDENT of the company negatively asked me ‘what are you gonna tell your young demographic,’” she wrote. “I took a second to process what I was just asked, and then… I replied… ‘THE TRUTH.’”
The 19-year-old singer and dancer continued, “I’ve never seen a man roll his eyes so far in the back of his head…. It was silent so I started talking again… I said… ‘I’m not gonna hide who I am and who I love to anyone, ESPECIALLY to the next generation.”
Siwa said the president “didn't like that very much” but that she has no regrets. “However.. since I came out SO many adults say to me ‘I wish I had someone like you when I was younger,’” she wrote. “Which reminds me everytime that I did the right thing and to never let ANYONE change who you are.”
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Some fans in the comments section assumed Siwa was referring to the children's cable channel Nickelodeon, which is run by Paramount Global. “@nickelodeon in their flop era,” one user replied to Siwa's video.
After rising to fame on Dance Moms and with her own YouTube channel, JoJo Siwa has been featured in multiple Nickelodeon projects, including the 2021 Paramount+ film The J-Team, which was produced by Nickelodeon Movies. She has also won four Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, including favorite social music star in 2019 and 2020.
However, Siwa was not invited to the awards show in 2022. “A lot of you have been asking me why I’m not at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards tonight, and the answer is very simple — I wasn’t invited,” Siwa said in an Instagram video in April 2022. “I’m not sure why, but I just didn’t get an invite.”
A source later told Variety that her missing invitation was an “honest mistake.”
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In January 2021, Siwa came out by sharing a TikTok video lip-syncing to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” before speaking directly to her fans during an Instagram live stream. “Personally I have never, ever, ever been this happy before and it feels really awesome," she said at the time. “Right now what matters is that you guys know that no matter who you love, that it’s okay. It’s awesome and the world is there for you.”
Though Siwa originally declined to label her sexuality, she later revealed she “technically” identifies as pansexual during an interview with People. "I never wanted [my coming out] to be a big deal," she told the publication in April 2021. She also added, "My thing is, I don't want people to watch my videos or buy my merchandise if they aren't going to support not only me but the LGBTQ community."
