20-year-old JoJo Siwa has been in the limelight for more than half of her young life already. The dancer-turned-singer and internet personality recently released some music that is not sitting well with everyone.
Keep reading to learn more about what SNL did in a skit that has some people accusing the show of bullying the young woman.
The show Saturday Night Live (SNL) is known for its hilarious parodies and comedy sketches. A lot of times the writers for the show use current events to write their material. This week, they chose to write about 20-year-old Jojo Siwa.
Recently, Siwa has made headlines for her new ‘bad girl’ persona. Her new look and style caused a lot of mixed reactions from people since it was a 180-degree change from how people had known her before.
SNL used her dramatic transformation to poke some fun at her. SNL cast member Chloe Fineman transformed into Siwa’s new dark persona, and was featured on SNL’s Weekend Update segment with co-anchor Colin Jost.
“Wow, oh my god, JoJo!” Colin exclaims as Chloe dressed as Siwa appears.
“That’s right, Colin; I’m a bad girl now!” Chloe says, as she is dressed identically to Siwa’s recent look for the red carpet and her music video.
“Yeah, it’s a pretty big change. I used to be way more sparkles, and now, I’m black sparkles,” the 35-year-old comedian dress as Siwa added.
At one point, Chloe said, “I look like if a figure skater joined a street gang.” Jost joked with her, “I was gonna say [you look like] if Mad Max was on Broadway.”
Chloe continued, “Does it scare you, Colin?
“Does a former child star looking like this scare you?”
The actress then whipped out some candy smokes, claiming that she “does cigarettes” now.
Then the skit took a jab at Siwa’s interview, where she took credit creating the genre of “gay pop.” This is a claim she has since then apologized for.
“I’m 20, and I’m gay! I’m the first gay girl in the world! Bet you never met a gay girl before!” Chloe joked.
“JoJo, you were quoted as saying you invented a new genre of music,” Colin said to Chloe’s Siwa, to which she replied, “That’s right, gay pop!”
“That’s maybe just ‘pop,’” Colin replied.
The clip then went viral on social media which caused a lot of people to have some reactions to the entire thing.
“SNL still leaves a bad taste in my mouth,” one person posted to X (formerly Twitter).
Another person added, “I can’t fully point out why but for this?
“It’s a bit horrid knowing Jojo Siwa grew up in an abusive environment, is very sheltered, and doesn’t really know what a normal life is then she gets picked on for like having an annoying dance thing.”
Another X user added their two cents, “I really hope Jojo Siwa knows we (especially that SNL skit) are laughing at her and NOT with her.”
Another user was of the opinion, “More articles should be written because this is not ok, this girl has been bullied since she was a child and now receiving extra hate and for being herself.”
JoJo was only nine years old when she appeared on the reality show Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition. She was about nine years old when she appeared in Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition with her mom. The show began her career as she then went on to star in Dance Moms.
In the show, Dance Moms, toxic behavior was often on display as the young performers often went through verbally abusive behavior at the hands of their coach, Abby Lee Miller. They were also subjected to extreme competitive pressure.
It is no secret that Siwa was raised by a competitive mother. In an old clip that recently resurfaced online, a young Siwa reveals that her mother has been bleaching her hair blonde since she was two years old.
While some people might find the Saturday Night Live skit insensitive, it seems Siwa is not one of them. In fact, she appreciated the segment, flattered by SNL’s attention. She shared the segment on Instagram writing, “Iconic. I literally don’t know what to say. This is f—— crazy. 3-and-a-half-minute skit on SNL…”