Earlier this week, a clip from a recent JoJo Siwa interview sparked intense backlash online.
As you might've seen, the clip sees JoJo speaking about her new wave of music. The young star recently underwent a total "rebrand," with many suggesting she's in her "bad girl" era.
Recalling presenting her new sound to her record label, the 20-year-old told Billboard: "I said, 'I want to start a new genre of music.' And they said, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'Well, it's called 'Gay Pop.'"
Given how long "gay pop" has been a thing and the numerous queer and non-queer artists who invented it, several people were immediately furious at JoJo for insinuating that she'd invented the genre, taking to social media to brand her "disrespectful" and "ignorant."
Alt-pop duo Tegan and Sara, who both identify as queer, stitched a TikTok clip of JoJo's interview. At the same time, user @lemongayde expertly broke down why the young singer's comments were so problematic: "Part of being young and queer and coming out and joining this community — entering into this space — is learning your history. Learning your roots and knowing where we've come from, knowing just how much work it has taken to get us where we are today. And to say something as outlandish at the age of effing 20 as you invented the genre of 'gay pop' is achingly disrespectful. You could not have invented something that has been going on long before you were born."
Well, amid the growing backlash, JoJo was approached by TMZ yesterday and questioned about her comment.
At first, JoJo seemed defensive as she suggested that the backlash toward her claim was uncalled for. "Why would you come for me for that?" she yelled before adding, "I could be like, 'I support world peace,' and the world would be like, 'You asshole.'"
The TMZ reporter then pointed out to JoJo that people were mainly criticizing her comment because she didn't acknowledge any of the "gay pop" icons that have come before her.
JoJo agreed that "so many" artists have created and contributed to the "gay pop" space. "Madonna, Lady Gaga, fucking Michael Jackson! There's so many people who have made 'gay pop,'" she said.
"I think I just wanna make it more clear that gay pop is a genre," she said. "You have pop, you have rock, you have country, and you have gay pop."
JoJo then suggested that if you asked somebody to name a "gay pop" artist, they would reply, "What's 'gay pop?'" However, the reporter hit back, stating: "I think they would say Lady Gaga, Freddie Mercury, Elton John" — to which JoJo agreed.
Finally, when asked if she wanted to retract her statement, JoJo clarified that she believes she is "definitely not" the inventor of "gay pop."
"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," she said.
