JoJo Siwa: YouTube star left ‘crying for hours’ by people ‘driving by my house and shouting mean things’
Written by News on 03/07/2020
YouTube star JoJo Siwa says she’s been left “crying for hours” after people targeted her at home shouting “very mean things”.
The bow-loving teen from Nebraska has found fame online singing and dancing, after first appearing on US reality show Dance Moms when she was 12.
Now 17, the vlogger has over 11.4m subscribers, but she told NBC’s children’s news show Nightly News: Kids Edition being famous can sometimes be tough.
“There are times where I joke around and I’d say once every three months, I just kind of bottle everything up,” she said.
“And then I just break one night and have a bit of a break down and I cry for a solid three hours. Then I take a shower and I call it good and put my game face back on.”
Siwa said the abuse she has suffered can be very personal, including comments about her hairline, and insults describing her as “baby”, a “giant toddler”, a “brat” and “fat”.
But she said she remains positive in the face of hostility.
“I try to respond with comedy. People will drive by the house actually and shout out very mean things. And I always come up with the funniest comebacks,” she said.
She added: “I mean, it can be hard. And it hurts, but as a person you want people to be nice and you’re never, never, ever going to please everybody.”
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Siwa told the programme that turns to those she loves to get her through difficult moments.
“If you’re ever feeling down, know that the people who are your people, know your family, know your dog,” she said.
“Know those living things that are that are really there for you.”
The comments come after the young performer faced criticism earlier this week after some people claimed a backing dancer in one of her music videos was wearing blackface.
Siwa said the dark makeup represented an animal in the circus-themed video, which featured dancers dressed as wildlife including tigers and zebra.
(c) Sky News 2020: JoJo Siwa: YouTube star left ‘crying for hours’ by people ‘driving by my house and shouting mean things’
