I’m Worried About JoJo Siwa

We’ve watched this movie and the ending isn’t great.

Sep 13, 2024

Over the last year or so I’ve found myself actively worried about JoJo Siwa.

Now, I’m not some big Jojo Siwa fan but between headlines and social media I have the broad strokes of her career. JoJo got her start on Dance Moms, she was a YouTube star, a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and she came out as queer a few years back. JoJo was a modern day reality show pioneer, taking her short stint on Dance Moms and translating it to a massive YouTube following and retail business.

But lately, things seem to be heading down a rocky road for the Gen Z icon. JoJo has been chugging alcohol on stage, claiming to have invented “Gay Pop” and forcing an aggressive bit of choreography down everyone’s throat.

The word “cringe” comes to mind.

But this is a 21 year old girl who was put on reality television at the tender age of 9. She was locked into wearing girly-bows and sparkles deep into her teen years and has been financially responsible for her entire family for many years. She recently discussed her financial situation on Call Her Daddy —

"My mom actually said something today to me that was really sweet,” Siwa said. "When you are a kid, 15 percent of every penny you make goes into a Coogan account [to protect her earnings]. My parents thought when I turned 18, I was gonna get my Coogan account money, take all of my money and have it all be mine." Instead, Siwa made it clear that she had no intention of doing that. “That’s always been a fear of theirs, always has been. Just because the opportunity of me leaving them high and dry was right there. People have done it before. Child stars have done it before, but I would never do that to my family.”

Ugh. The weight of this dynamic is heavy. Even with all the best intentions, this dynamic feels wrong. Plus, why can’t she have that 15%? It was put away for a reason, right? I’m no mathematician (as most of you know) but everyone was being supported on a whole 85% of her earning for years. Do they really need access to her 15? 🧐

I can’t help but feel JoJo is on the same destructive path as some of the other bright lights who were thrust into the spotlight at an early age. Stars like Britney Spears and Amanda Bynes who attempted to shed the image we initially fell in love with and were met with ferocious backlash.

How can you drop a Disney-a-fied persona and grow into the artist you want to be while keeping your mental health in tact? It seems like a tight rope act that’s almost impossible to nail. Miley Cyrus made it to the other side in one piece — but just barely. Her pivot from Hannah Montana to wrecking-ball-wild-child was met with plenty of scrutiny. And while she has totally come into her own — she’s had to fight for it. Plus, she had Dolly Parton on speed dial for emotional support. I’m not able to crunch the numbers on what having Dolly Parton support equals because as I noted earlier - I’m not a mathematician - but I think it’s very helpful.

Let’s look at JoJo’s path from Omaha, Nebraska to where she is today and see if we can find our way to being her collective Dolly Parton.

The Dance Moms Days

This ALDC (Abby Lee Dance Company) video has me shook. Poor girl had to stand there while everyone in the company read her for filth - it’s bullying 101. Does Abby Lee even know how to dance?? PS, I didn’t realize the moms were so integrated into the show. They are certainly integrated into the title - not sure why it was a surprise?

YouTube + Nickelodeon

JoJo launched her YouTube channel in 2015. She was creating that high octane, clickbait content that was so popular at the time. Every inch of her house was exploding with bows, sparkles, rainbows and branding. She was vlogging her face off, building her brand and amassing an army of little girl followers.

In 2017 JoJo was signed to Nickelodeon. She guest starred on a bunch of shows and had her own animated series The JoJo and Bow Bow Show Show.

TOO OLD FOR BOWS

This What’s In My Backpack video was created in 2020 which would put her at about 17 years old. Way too old to be peddling all this little kid stuff. I remember seeing a video of her around this time and thinking she seemed trapped in this persona. It looked suffocating.

The JoJo Empire

Okay so the bows were profitable. I repeat the bows were profitable. Forbes sat down with JoJo and unpacked her merchandising journey. JoJo casually explains the size and reach of the team that supported her brand —

“There are 500 Nickelodeon employees, worldwide, that support the JoJo brand. I can’t be present in every business meeting because they’re probably having three JoJo meetings right now. People in Hong Kong are probably having JoJo meetings. People in Australia are probably having JoJo meetings because it’s such a huge franchise.”

Gulp. Bows aren’t even her biggest seller!

“I probably spend most of my time with JoJo toys. They are the biggest seller, followed by: accessories, apparel and then bedding.
But her biggest seller of all time are her signature bows. She said, “It all started with the bows. So far, we’ve sold over 80 million bows.”
The pricing ranges from $5 to $16 per bow. Even if you take a conservative estimate, that’s $400 million generated by bow sales alone.

$400 million in bow sales alone. In bow sales alone. Is this empire a surprise to anyone or did you have it? This is JoJo’s current line at Target - it’s three pages deep.

Dancing With The Stars - Groundbreaking Same Sex Dance Partner

Then in 2021, JoJo unclipped the bow, declare her pansexuality and joined the cast of Dancing With The Stars.

She received a ton of backlash and was accused of being a bad role model. JoJo received a call from Nickelodeon president Brian Robbins —

“What are we going to tell the kids?” she remembered Robbins asking, to which she replied, “That I’m happy?” - Them.Us

A dude questioning a young lady’s choices. Didn’t see that coming.

For the first time since her partnership with Nickelodeon JoJo was not invited to the Kids Choice Awards. She took to social media —

“I don’t want anyone to think it was my choice not to go…. I simply didn’t get an invite.”

Nickelodeon claimed that it was an oversight and the invite list was culled due to Covid protocols. I’m calling bullshit on that, with love.

The last few years have been the very awkward rebrand years.

Toxic relationship headlines
“Edgy” style choices
Drinking on stage
Cussing out audience members
Claiming to have “invented” gay pop

This is where it gets hards. This is where, we as a collective, need to buckle down and lean in. Of course she’s approaching her rebrand in the same over-the-top, in-your-face, manner that has worked for her in the past. Being abandoned by so many of your fans after feeling so incredibly loved and supported has to be devastating.

Last month JoJo shared that she has a new girlfriend, DaKayla Wilson, who was a runner up on So You Think You Can Dance (that feels right and looks very cute).

Let’s collectively send her some healing Dolly Parton-esq love and support. JoJo we want you to enjoy your life and thrive! Take care of yourself and make mental health your number one priority.

Yesterday I saw a video of her at NYFW dressed as a big, black, poof doing her Karma’s a Bitch dance. She’s still in “process” and working it out. God bless. Do you, boo.

@dailymailshowbiz She captioned the video simply ‘Ur welcome 💚⚫️’ 🎥 itsjojosiwa #jojosiwa #karma #nyfw #celebnews #celebritynews

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