JoJo Siwa Claims Nickelodeon Blackballed Her After Coming Out

JoJo Siwa has been very open about her sexuality since coming out as queer in 2021.

And in Demi Lovato’s Hulu documentary Child star, JoJo Siwa has spoken candidly about the challenges she faced. come out.

According to The Hollywood ReporterJoJo revealed that she received a call from the president of Nickelodeon shortly after she publicly came out as queer.

“What would you tell your kids?” he asked her, to which JoJo, then 17, replied, “That you’re happy?”

“Well, I need to call all the retailers. [that sells JoJo Siwa merch] “Tell them I’m not crazy,” she claims JoJo told her. JoJo did as she was told and called retailers like Target, Claire’s and Walmart, but she added that her relationship with Nickelodeon was no longer the same.

“I was effectively removed from the company,” she said.

JoJo, now 21, added that she cares a lot more about what people think of her now, and said she thinks she would have responded very differently if the same experience were to happen now. “If the president of my music label called me now and was like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ like the president of my network was back then, I’d freak out,” she said. “Honestly, I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Yeah, I’ll go back in the closet. Or delete it. Tell them it was a prank. Get a boyfriend.’ But back then, I was like, ‘I’m in love and I’m happy. Shut up.'”

Demi Lovato, who identifies as queer and non-binary, acknowledged that the situation “would have pulled me back into the closet again.” “I knew my parents loved me, but coming out is a different kind of acceptance, especially when you’re raised in a Christian home,” her parents said.