The JoJo Siwa Drama: A "Full" Story
“Just wait until I drop that F bomb,” she warned.
Alright, I finally decided to have a take on this. The JoJo Siwa drama has been all over my TikTok for quite some weeks now, it seems like people just cannot get over the fact that JoJo Siwa just invented “gay pop” with her new song, “Karma” (no, I’m being sarcastic, actually.)
In case you are not on TikTok, and you have no idea who the heck is JoJo Siwa, or just simply wonder what the drama is about, I’m here to help.
1. Who is JoJo Siwa?
Okay, let’s just begin with some background information about JoJo, if you don’t know who she is. But if you already know, feel free to skip to the second part of this essay, where we’ll take a look at the “drama” she stirred up recently.
Born Joelle Joanie "JoJo" Siwa on May 19, 2003, to a family of Jessalynn Siwa, a skilled dance instructor from Iowa, and Tom Siwa, a chiropractor hailing from Nebraska. Siwa shot to fame when she participated in Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, which was produced by Abby Lee Miller, renowned for her role in Dance Moms. Siwa showed her exceptional talent in the show, securing her position among the top 5 finalists and holding the title of the youngest contestant during the second season when she was only 9 at the time [1].
Following her debut, Siwa appeared in two seasons of the reality television show Dance Moms alongside her mother in 2015-2016 [2]. At a young age, Siwa was never afraid of confronting her coach, Miller, and even clapped back at Miller in some episodes. Despite many heated moments between the two, Siwa still has a good impression of the stern coach.
"She's tough, but I love her. She makes me cry a lot, but you kind of just have to grab some tissues and go back in." [1]
Later on, JoJo launched her own YouTube channel, which has since amassed a huge amount of subscribers. With the rise in popularity of her channel, the young star found herself with various professional opportunities opening up, including ventures into music, appearances on television shows, and securing a talent deal with Nickelodeon for events and merchandise [3].
JoJo reached a new height of fame as a pop star for children, with the launch of singles such as "Boomerang" (2017), "Kid in a Candy Store," "Hold the Drama," and others. Her signature bows have become a major impression, so much so that in 2016, JoJo collaborated with the fashion accessory and jewelry company Claire's to release a line of hair bows, which went viral in UK schools [4].
In January 2021, Siwa publicly came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community by posting a photo on her Twitter account wearing a shirt that read "Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever." [5] Leaving her fans in awe, Siwa then openly expressed her love for her girlfriend Kylie Prew, 18.
"She never cares what the internet said about us," she says. "It's nice to have somebody in my life like that." [6]
Siwa's influence extends beyond sold-out international arenas; she's also a rising mogul. Through deals with various retailers like Target, Walmart, and JCPenney, her face adorns an extensive range of merchandise, spanning from dolls, clothes, and candy to watches, shoes, and bean bag chairs. Embracing her brand, she even has two convertible Mercedes parked outside her house, proudly emblazoned with her face.
As a multi-talented star, JoJo Siwa has taken up various roles throughout her career, such as singer, dancer, actress, and media personality. It will go down in history that JoJo Siwa is a new symbol of positivity, success, and happiness, however, as she grows older, Siwa just doesn’t want to frame herself in one particular brand image, which people have little to no complaints about.
It all began when she announced to the public that she was working on a rebrand, along with a new single called “Karma”.
2. “Karma’s a bitch, I should’ve known better”
Dubbed a “messy rebrand” by the media, perhaps JoJo Siwa’s transition is just one of the many similar cases in which child stars rarely have it easy when it comes to rebranding as they step into adulthood. Somehow this has become a common stereotype in Hollywood.
Showed up in a bedazzled Gene Simmons-inspired bodysuit, featuring a striking black and silver design, and adorned with a unique interpretation of his signature star-shaped face paint, JoJo Siwa stirred a big debate across the Internet. Some might take this as a positive sign of JoJo taking her career seriously, while others just claim that JoJo is being JoJo, who is entering her goth rock era, and how they miss “the old JoJo”.
But it wasn’t just the look that changed. JoJo revealed that this rebrand is for her new single called “Karma”, warning that it contains "sexual themes, violence," and "strong language,” [7] which is an opposite take from her previous songs which are children-friendly.
And on April 5th, Siwa finally unveiled "Karma,” a catchy pop anthem that delves into the theme of regretting infidelity. JoJo then started to promote her new song by sharing TikTok videos showcasing snippets of the choreography for "Karma," exuding tremendous passion and energy. The display left some commenters astonished at her fervor, one saying, “if i saw this outside my house, id scream” while the others laughed so hard at the lyrics in the song, which goes “I was a bad girl, I did some bad things.”
But as people were starting to pay more attention to what was going on, some just pointed out a plain “fact”: JoJo just simply changed her theme colors on her makeup and costumes, rather than “rebranding”. Comparing her new look with the classic ponytail JoJo Siwa, people affirmed that JoJo is still the same JoJo with bejeweled makeup, glittering outfits, and excessive accessories, just that she is dressing in monochrome now.
Aside from the ongoing debate surrounding her dance routine, there have been speculations that Siwa may have acquired the song from Cyrus and Brit Smith, as both were reportedly offered the song back in the early 2010s.
Some aggressively accused Siwa of “stealing” the song, to which she responded with a “No” and “I also don't know who Brit Smith is.” She went as far as confirming that "Karma" was not originally intended for another pop star. Instead, it was crafted by the renowned producing team Rock Mafia, known for their work with artists such as Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato, among others [8].
The controversy seems to never die down ever since Siwa dropped her single. Especially when Siwa asserted that she invented a “new” subgenre of music (that already existed), which she called "gay pop." [9]
This declaration sparked a response from many who pointed out the extensive history of queer pop artists and the longstanding existence of the music genre Siwa claimed to invent. Siwa quickly corrected her earlier statement, clarifying to TMZ less than a week later that she did not claim to be the inventor of this genre. Instead, she expressed her desire to contribute to the genre and help elevate it to greater prominence
"I definitely am not the inventor of gay pop, for sure not. But I do want to be a piece in making it bigger than it already is. I want to bring more attention to it." [10].
Amidst the chaos surrounding JoJo Siwa and her song, Brit Smith finally released her full song “Karma’s A Bitch” on YouTube on Apr 15th, 2024. People start to compare Brit Smith’s version of the song to JoJo’s. Well, they are practically the same song, even how both artists executed the notes in the same way is noticeable. Some keen “investigators” even placed both versions on top of each other for comparison, and finally concluded that JoJo might have used Brit’s vocals as a guide while recording her song. The others started to crack jokes about how JoJo was straining (not “raspy” like her vocal coach claimed) in the Behind-the-scene video uploaded on TikTok. Overall, people are positive that JoJo couldn’t possibly hit all the high notes in her own song, and that she was abusing autotune.
Now that the unreleased 2010s song was officially released, the public quickly boosted sales of the “original” track, propelling Brit Smith to an unexpected No. 1 spot on Billboard's electronic digital chart. Meanwhile, Siwa failed to make it onto the Hot 100 chart [11]. While most people were laughing in satisfaction as they believed, JoJo had met her own karma, Brit Smith decided to “set the record straight once and for all” with a TikTok video.
In her video, Brit Smith defended the young star, saying that JoJo wasn’t stealing anything:
“…JoJo did not steal my song. There’s been a lot of talk and a lot of comments and they just keep going, so I just thought let me come on here and hopefully put an end to this.”
“She was totally in the right to record her version, and I hate to see that anybody would think that I’m a part of any kind of bullying or anything like that. I was bullied in high school and I know what that feels like, and I would never want to be thought to be part of any part of that. I just want to make it clear that JoJo has done nothing wrong to me.” [12]
A bit of explanation, shall we?
The song "Karma" by Jojo Siwa was co-written by Desmond Child and the songwriting duo Rock Mafia in 2024. In 2012, this same group collaborated on Brit Smith's "Karma’s A Bitch." In an interview with Page Six, Smith disclosed that the original track was initially crafted "with Miley Cyrus in mind, but she passed on it."
However, Smith's version of the song never made it onto the charts or streaming platforms. Instead, her record label at the time, Interscope Records, went with another single "Provocative," featuring will.i.am and produced by Timbaland. Following the controversy, Jojo Siwa confirmed that she had purchased the rights to the song, legitimizing her remake.
So there was no stealing, but people still find the whole situation too much of a mess for a rebrand.
3. Some Final Words?
The JoJo Siwa drama surrounding her rebrand and the release of her song "Karma" has been a rollercoaster of controversies, speculations, and clarifications. The most interesting thing about this was how it slowly got messier than it was supposed to be.
The controversies still live on, and people are still pretty much debating about it, especially on TikTok where JoJo and her “over-energetic” choreography has now become a new meme across the Internet. This will undoubtedly leave a permanent impression on the “rebranded” JoJo Siwa but well, it's clear that JoJo's impact on the music industry and her young fanbase remains significant (thanks to her 11-year streak of being a “children-friendly” singer/performer) and so, one thing is for sure—her journey is far from over.
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A few controversies along the way always seem to help in showbiz; I can't imagine that they would hurt her that much in the long run, but hey, we got a long way to go on this so perhaps wait and see is the best approach...