Nickelodeon allegedly “blackballed” JoJo Siwa after she came out

Jojo Siwa says that she “basically got blackballed” by Nickelodeon after she came out as gay.

Siwa is featured in Demi Lovato’s new documentary Child Star, which looks at how children are victimized in Hollywood, interviewing celebrities who grew up on screen or stage, including Drew Barrymore, Kenan Thompson, Raven Symone, and Siwa.

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The “Broad City” co-creator and star (who uses she/they pronouns) said, “I’m moving through the world in a way that’s truer [now].”

In a piece The Hollywood Reporter ran about the documentary, Siwa says that after she came out in January 2021 as a seventeen-year-old, Nickelodeon president Brian Robins asked her, “What are we going to tell the kids?” to which she replied, “That I’m happy?”

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He then allegedly told the teenager to call “every retailer [that sells Siwa merchandise] to tell them that you’re not going crazy.”

She did, calling Claire’s, Target, and Walmart, all of which continued selling her merch. But she says that her relationship with the company was “never the same.”

Siwa says if the same conversation happened now, as a 21-year-old, she would actually cave to Robins.

“If the president of my music label called me now and was like, ‘Yo, what the f**k?’ like the president of my network did then, I would lose my mind,” she said. “Honestly, I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Yes, I’ll go back in the closet. Or I’ll delete it. I’ll say it was a prank. I’ll get a boyfriend.’ But back then, I was like, ‘I’m in love and I’m happy. Shut up.'”

A Nickelodeon spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter, “We are unaware of the incident JoJo is referencing, and she was certainly not blackballed by Nickelodeon. 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 has spoken out against the network before. In 2022, she was not invited to the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards, though her songs were nominated and used during the ceremony. At the time, she posted on her Instagram, “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.”

“I’m not sure why,” she added. “I just didn’t get an invite.”

in 2023, she said that the president of a company she did not name reacted poorly after her coming out (Nickoloden again denied it was them), asking for a meeting with her “ASAP.”

“During this meeting, the PRESIDENT of the company negatively asked me ‘what are you gonna tell your young demographic,” Siwa described the incident in a TikTok video. “I took a second to process what I was just asked, and then… I replied… ‘THE TRUTH,’ I’ve never seen a man roll his eyes so far in the back of his head.”

“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.”

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