JoJo Siwa is keeping her ponytail-less head held high!
The 18-year-old was at the center of controversy over the weekend after she was notably missing from the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards despite being up for Favorite Social Music Star — and her absence was due to the most surprising of reasons, unfortunately!
Taking to Instagram on Saturday, the singer explained that she was NOT EVEN INVITED to the show! WTF?!
Related: JoJo Siwa Chops Off Her Signature Ponytail For A Super Short Look!!!
In a video message to fans, the actress, who has worked with the children’s network for years, told followers:
“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, but I just didn’t get an invite.”
Seriously, no invite?? That is a BAD look on Nick! JoJo reiterated the statement in her caption, adding:
“A lot of you have been asking why I’m not at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards tonight, I don’t want anyone to think it was my choice not to go…. I simply didn’t get an invite :(.”
Also, her song One Chance was used during the event, JoJo said later in her IG Story:
“But still, they couldn’t invite (me).”
Check out her full explanation (below)!
This is the first Kids’ Choice Awards JoJo has missed since her rise to fame. It also comes after the Dance Moms alum came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and began branching out from her signature look, so the fact that she didn’t snag an invite definitely has fans raising an eyebrow! One fan, retweeted by Siwa, noted:
“The only year that @itsjojosiwa didn’t get invited to the kids choice awards is when she comes out and cuts her hair???? Sus @Nickelodeon”
Couldn’t have said it better ourselves…
But could the decision also have been the aftermath of Siwa putting the company on blast last September? Just ahead of going on her D.R.E.A.M. tour, she complained about not being able to sing songs from her new musical The J Team, writing on Twitter:
“I go out on tour in January. My movie musical was just released (with 6 new original songs)… Nickelodeon told me today that I’m not allowed to perform/add any of the songs from the film into my show.”
The Nickelodeon movie premiered on Paramount+ in July, so she was eager to include the new tracks in her setlist for her audience to hear them live for the first time. Nick’s refusal had her fuming on social media as she continued:
“These are MY songs, MY voice, MY writing. Does this seem fair??? There is no reason that this music should not be included.”
In another tweet, the Dancing With The Stars alum also pointed out the challenges of being treated like a “brand,” expressing:
“Working for a company as a real human being treated as only a brand is fun until it’s not.”
We’re sure it stings even more now that the company’s publicly shutting her out even though she was up for an award!! (FYI, Dixie D’Amelio won Favorite Social Music Star, beating out JoJo, That Girl Lay Lay, Oliver Tree, Addison Rae, and Johnny Orlando). It’s also disappointing to see that the network didn’t include her given her coming out journey — they could have made such a positive statement against homophobic haters! But nope!
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Rather than stay in a bad mood over not receiving an invite, Siwa returned to Instagram a day later to insist she was having a great day despite the drama. She posed for a series of photos while sipping iced coffee outside, updating fans on Sunday, saying:
“Today is a GOOD day (especially compared to yesterday)”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcMEvDHPifP/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
LOLz — the shade!!
She’s def still a bit salty (for good reason), but at least she’s rising above the petty AF drama!! As of now, Nick hasn’t addressed the situation, but we’re sure many people would like to know why one of their biggest stars didn’t receive an invite! Do you think any of JoJo’s recent actions affected her guest list status?
[Image via Nickelodeon/YouTube & JoJo Siwa/Instagram]