Fans have accused Nickelodeon of homophobia after JoJo Siwa revealed she was not invited to the network’s 2022 Kids’ Choice Awards.
The 18-year-old pop star – who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2021– has worked closely with Nickelodeon over the years, since she signed a major talent deal with them in 2017.
However, despite being nominated for the sixth year in a row, fans were confused by Siwa’s absence from the ceremony, held on Saturday (9 April).
In an Instagram video posted on the night of the awards, Siwa said: “A lot of you have been asking 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,” she added.
Outraged by the news, fans have aired their grievances with the network on Twitter.
“If you’ve had any young kids in the family in the past few years like I have, you know how extremely popular JoJo Siwa is. The year after she came out as lesbian & cut her hair, she didn’t get invited to the Kids’ Choice Awards. That’s like not inviting Brad Pitt to the Oscars,” one user wrote.
Another tweeted: “Nickelodeon better have a damn good reason for not inviting Jojo siwa because their [sic] lookin pretty homophobic rn.”
Many pointed out that Siwa “has been the face of Nickelodeon for years” and branded the network’s misstep as “absolutely unacceptable”.
While Siwa herself hasn’t directly labelled the fact she wasn’t invited as homophobic, she has reshared a few tweets from others who have: “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.”
The Independent has reached out to Nickelodeon and Siwa’s representatives for comment.
