Nickelodeon Denies Eye Roll Reaction to JoJo Siwa’s Coming Out

JoJo Siwa is firing back at a past employer with eyebrow-raising comments.

The former Nickelodeon star recently slammed an unnamed company for its alleged response to her coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in January 2021.

"The company I work for told me they needed to have a meeting w/ me ASAP," the 19-year-old recalled in a March 22 TikTok. "During this meeting, the PRESIDENT of the company negatively asked me 'What are you gonna tell your young demographic?' I took a second to process what I was just asked, and then, I replied…'the truth.'"

In the video, which features her dancing to Meghan Trainor's track "Mother," JoJo then shared the executive's alleged reaction to her candid response.

"I've never seen a man roll his eyes so far in the back of his head," she continued. "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.' He didn't like that very much."

A Nickelodeon spokesperson told E! News in a statement that the incident did not take place at the company, which previously posted a message of support days after JoJo came out in 2021.

"We are unaware of what incident or meeting JoJo is referencing, but it certainly did not happen at Nickelodeon," the March 23 statement read. "We have valued and supported JoJo since day one of our relationship together and we still do today."

Nickelodeon also stated it has a PRIDE Capsule Collection with JoJo, which will retail in May with a portion of the proceeds going to GLSEN, an organization that aims to support LGBTQ youth in schools.

E! News has reached out to JoJo's rep for comment but hasn't heard back.

As for the Dance Moms alum, she said she doesn't have any regrets about living her life authentically. In fact, she noted that her journey has touched others who've related to her experience.

"Since I came out SO many adults say to me 'I wish I had someone like you when I was younger,'" JoJo continued, "which reminds me every time that I did the right thing and to never let ANYONE change who you are."

Even though JoJo did not explicitly name any particular company, she's previously been outspoken about her relationship with Nickelodeon. In April 2022, she revealed that despite being nominated for an award at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, she was not invited to the event.

"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 explained in a video at the time. "I'm not sure why, but I just didn't get an invite."

She also criticized Nickelodeon in 2021 for its alleged treatment of her D.R.E.A.M. The Tour, accusing the company of banning songs from the set list.

"My movie musical [The J Team] was just released (with 6 new original songs)," she tweeted September 2021. "Nickelodeon told me today that I'm not allowed to perform/add any of the songs from the film into my show. These are MY songs, MY voice, MY writing. Does this seem fair??? There is no reason that this music should not be included. Working for a company as a real human being treated as only a brand is fun until it's not."

The superstar's recent words on TikTok comes as she celebrated the two-year anniversary of her coming out journey this past January, writing on Instagram that she was "SO proud of 17 year old JoJo" for staying true to herself.

"Now that the world gets to see this side of my life, it makes me really, really happy," she said in her message. "I've been happy in this land for a minute now. And now though that I just get to share that with the world, it's awesome."

This article was updated on March 23, 2023 at 5:52 p.m. PT with an additional statement from Nickelodeon.

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