JoJo Siwa has opened up about the reaction she got from a company after she came out as gay - and why she's glad she stuck to her guns about being open and honest with her fans.
The dancer and TV star, 19, had come out in January 2021 by sharing a video of herself lipsyncing Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' with the Pride House LA collective.
She then shared a snap wearing a T-shirt reading "best gay cousin ever" and revealed she was in a relationship with girlfriend Kylie Prew.
While most of the world and her fans embraced JoJo being open about her sexuality, she revealed she got a very different reaction from one of her employers.
JoJo took to TikTok to share a video claiming that the president of a company had had a scornful response when she revealed she was going to come out.
Dancing and lipsyncing to Meghan Trainor's song 'Mother', she wrote on the clip in overlay text: "Story time: January 2021, I come out to the world. The company I work for told me they needed to have a meeting w/ me ASAP.
"During this meeting, the PRESIDENT of the company negatively asked me 'What are you gonna tell your young demographic?'"
She added: "I took a second to process what I was just asked, and then... I replied... 'THE TRUTH.'"
"I've never seen a man roll his eyes so far in the back of his head. It was silent so I started talking again... I said 'I'm not gonna hide who I am and who I love to anyone, ESPECIALLY to the next generation.' He didn't like that very much.
"However, since I came out SO many adults say to me, 'I wish I had someone like you when I was younger.' Which reminds me every time that I did the right thing and to never let ANYONE change who you are."
In the caption, she added: "If that meeting was today I would literally just press play on this song."
While JoJo did not name the company outright, fans were quick to assume it could be Nickelodeon, which the dancer had worked with for several years after finding fame on Dance Moms.
Nickelodeon, however, denied that any such incident had occurred with their staff, telling the Daily Mail in a statement: "We are unaware of what incident or meeting JoJo is referencing, but it certainly did not happen at Nickelodeon.
"We have valued and supported JoJo since day one of our relationship together and we still do today."
For their part, Nickelodeon has also recently announced a Pride capsule collection with JoJo, which will come out in May and raise money for charity.
A portion of the proceeds from items sold will benefit GLSEN, an organization that "works to ensure that LGBTQ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment".
