JoJo Siwa Says Nickelodeon Reacted Badly to Her Coming Out
In an interview for the Hulu documentary "Child Star," Siwa claims she was "blackballed" by the network for coming out as a lesbian.
JoJo Siwa claims she was “blackballed” by Nickelodeon after coming out as gay.
The singer, dancer, and actress, who previously signed with the children’s TV channel for a host of projects, made the claim in an interview as part of fellow child actress and singer Demi Lovato’s new documentary, Child Star, which will stream on Hulu starting September 17.
The 90-minute film, which focuses on the pressures and pitfalls of becoming a child celebrity — including alcoholism and drug use — and the way that Hollywood often victimizes child actors, primarily draws from Lovato’s own experiences. It features interviews with several other former child actors, including Siwa, Drew Barrymore, Kenan Thompson, Raven-Symoné, and Alyson Stoner.
In the documentary, Siwa says company executives reacted badly to her identifying as lesbian because they feared that such a revelation would ruin the star’s marketability and negatively impact sales of Siwa-themed merchandise. After she came out at age 17, Nickelodeon President Brian Robbins asked her, “What are we going to tell the kids?” She reportedly replied, “That I’m happy?”
Siwa says Robbins told her to call “every retailer [that sells Siwa merchandise] to tell them that you’re not going crazy.” Siwa complied, calling Claire’s, Target, and Walmart, to ensure they would continue selling her merchandise. But she said her relationship with Nickelodeon was “never the same.”
“We are unaware of the incident JoJo is referencing, and she was certainly not blackballed by Nickelodeon,” a network spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. “We have valued and supported JoJo throughout our incredibly successful partnership, which included a JoJo-themed Pride collection at a major national retailer, among our many collaborations together. We continue to cheer her on and wish her nothing but the best.”
Siwa says her young age and her naïveté actually protected her in a way, allowing her to stand up to Robbins and risk the possible consequences, including a backlash from the broader public. Nowadays, she says, she’d be more likely to cave to please executives’ desires.
Siwa has previously said that Nickelodeon snubbed her by not inviting her to the 2022 Kids’ Choice Awards, even though her songs were nominated and used during the ceremony.
“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,” she posted on Instagram at the time.
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