JoJo Siwa Reveals How She Was Guided After Karma

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a day ago

JoJo Siwa was really honest about how she didn't have full creative control of her journey post-"Karma."
The self-proclaimed "CEO of Gay Pop" seems to always be wedged in the middle of a headline, surrounded by speculation and controversy. Most recently, it's been surrounding her sexuality and her relationship with a cisgender man — because, heaven forbid, someone's sexuality isn't easy for other people to understand.
We spent so much time unnecessarily crawling around in JoJo's bedroom looking for gotcha clues that we overlooked a very compelling interview on the We Need to Talk podcast in April, where she broke down what was going on during that debut of her adult persona.
"So the last year of my life is the only time when it was different. The last year from 'Karma' to about three months ago, really, that's the only time it's been different," JoJo told podcast host Paul C. Brunson. "I've, you know, listened to outside opinions and gone certain ways and done certain things that maybe I wouldn't have necessarily done, choices I wouldn't have necessarily made. But I did, and I trusted because I wanted to do essentially what my boss said."
If you remember, right after "Karma" dropped, JoJo had a string of performances that had some very questionable moments, and now it's revealed that it wasn't always her decision to make those moves. "I had a bit of a breakdown and I cried, and I said, 'Why am i pretending that I'm drinking alcohol and being crazy? I'm a good girl.' I'm saying I'm drinking Fireball on stage, but it's apple juice."
JoJo admitted that she was actually coached in that direction after "Karma" went viral. "It's been guided, and it's been, honestly, I'll be honest. 'Karma' was me," she said. "I wanted to do that, I wanted to do that song, I wanted to do that dance, I wanted to do that makeup, I like that. Everything after the day 'Karma' was released was not me."
Misguidance be damned, JoJo's not looking back on those moments with regret because they've led to some "beautiful" milestones in life today. "That's very tough, because I look back at my last year of my life, and I think, whoa, it could be so different. I could be in a way different place now," she continued. "But, if I was in a way different place now, I wouldn't be on [Celebrity] Big Brother. I wouldn't have met my partner, you know what I mean? There's so many beautiful things in my life that they'd be so different if I wouldn't have made changes. So, I'm happy I did."
In the time she was on Big Brother, with society being so wrapped up trying to erase the reality of queerness or fluidity, JoJo reclaimed her journey. "I realized that I was in control for the first time again, but I was still acting as if I wasn't. It was interesting. I was kind of being guided everywhere and I just needed to stop, and I just needed to have a beat."
"Then this beautiful song fell into my lap that is a song saying exactly how I feel right now. As soon as I get out of the Big Brother house, I literally have a day and then I go into rehearsals for the music video for that song, and it was very important to me that that was the message that I shared because it's for the first time, again, exactly how I feel," JoJo added, referring to her new song "Bulletproof."
"I'm finally with a song not singing about — I'm happy, I'm positive, I'm on top of the world. I feel great. It's not a song about that. It's a song about the opposite," she said.
You know what? Hell yeah. People can learn something from JoJo if they can take a beat and stop trying to "guide" her into a box.
Watch her full interview on the We Need to Talk podcast here: