JoJo Siwa is speaking out about her controversial new look. The former Dance Moms star drew criticism after debuting it at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. Many compared her to both Gene Simmons and Miley Cyrus. Well, it turns out the latter is exactly what she was going for.
Siwa said that she's been inspired since she was a kid to have a similar turn as Cyrus. The former Hannah Montana star infamously cast aside her squeaky clean child image with a series of stunts. Who can forget "Wrecking Ball" after all?
"When I was 8 is when Miley had her Bangerz moment and I was like, 'All I want is to have that one day.' I want that," Siwa said via People."Honestly, since I was 15 my whole inner circle has been talking about it and getting excited for it. And then two years ago, I started writing new music. I got out of my Nickelodeon music contract."
Fast forward to 2022, and Siwa said she found "Karma" as her perfect launching point. However, she decided to shelve the song due to its first line "I was a bad girl." But, Siwa eventually got the idea for the music video, saying, "This is my 180."
JoJo Siwa Talks Backlash
"I will never claim to be a singer but I will claim to be an artist. I am giving the world art and they might not like it, they might hate it, but they're enjoying it," she said. "And it's become a bit of a guilty pleasure for everyone."
Siwa said this is really just the beginning. Audiences can expect more content in a similar style moving forward.
"I've seen people before me make this transition, I've seen how much I loved it, and I've seen also how much the world has criticized us, so I am ready for that. One thing that I think no one's done is given the heads-up," she said.
She added, "It was important to me to give that heads-up and be like, look, if you follow along, that's all you. If you want to go, now's your time. But in the best way possible, now's your time."
