Jojo Siwa says reaction to ‘Karma’ was ‘exactly’ what she wanted
Jojo Siwa was recently a guest on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and finally spoke out about the hate she is facing in connection with her name change.
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Another day, another fashion choice from JoJo Siwa that elicits mixed reactions.
On the cover of Ladygunn magazine, which came out on Monday, Siwa is seen sporting gold combat boots and a masculine rose gold rhinestone-embellished chest plate with muscular abs, paired with a matching jockstrap. The outfit was designed by Kyle Farmery’s Sparkyle Studio in New York City.
Siwa, 21, was looking for an outfit so wild it could be a “Halloween costume,” she told Ladygunn in an interview accompanying the photo shoot.
“We can’t just do a cool photo shoot and hope for the best,” she said. “It has to be about what… is she wearing now? You know what I mean? It has to be about what the next Halloween costume is.”
The most liked comments under the Instagram post containing the image include users expressing dislike and confusion. One comment saying they “do not like” the photos “at all” was signed by nearly 29,000 likes, and the second most liked comment reads, “No hate, I’m honestly just confused.”
Another user accused Siwa’s new management of “ruining her career.” However, one fan noted that everyone would “eat it up” if Lady Gaga had done this photoshoot.
Although Siwa has not publicly addressed the mixed reactions to her styling choice, she reposted a post by an X user (formerly of Twitter) who responded, “Love your balls JoJo @itsjojosiwa. Always a real showstopper. Never change girl.”
“Great desire to be an icon”: JoJo Siwa is rejected by the LGBTQ+ community. Why?
When Oscar nominee Kristen Stewart faced similar criticism earlier this year for appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone with her hand in a (non-jeweled) jockstrap, she explained why the negative reactions were based on a double standard.
“It’s a little ironic because I feel like I’ve seen a lot of male pubic hair on the covers of things. I’ve seen a lot of hands in pants and unbuttoned,” she said on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in March. “I think there’s a certain open acceptance of a female sexuality that has a mind of its own, in a way that is upsetting to sexist and homophobic people.”
JoJo Siwa doesn’t care if the internet “laughs with me or laughs at me”
The former “Dance Moms” star, who came out as queer and pansexual in 2021 and cut her iconic long blonde hair in 2022 before launching a bolder rebranding with her “Karma” music video this year, is used to sparking reactions on social media.
Siwa admits she’s a pro at marketing herself and getting attention online – an instinct inspired by notorious social media personalities Jake and Logan Paul.
“I learned at a very young age that in the public eye, any attention is attention… whether it’s good attention or just attention,” she told Ladygunn. “I just signed with new management and they’re amazing, amazing people. They were like, okay, we need to get people to rally around you and really like you. And I was like, oh no, that’s not what it’s about.”
She is aware that “nobody wants to see me boring” and revealed: “The part of me that the world doesn’t see is the person who controls the image you see.”
She added: “What I love to do most on this earth is to entertain and make people smile and laugh, whether they are laughing with me or at me.
“Of course nobody likes to be hated, but I like to be entertaining and that’s how people are entertained.”
