If you don’t have toddlers or tweens and have never seen an episode of Dance Moms from the US, then you’d be forgiven for not knowing who Jo Jo Siwa is. But for many, she is a phenomenon.
Siwa, a 17-year-old who will forever dress as a colourful kid, is an American dancer, singer, actress, model, and reality television personality who has a net worth of approx $14 million USD. Yup. At 17-years-old.
While an exceptional amount of money and a celebrated career, the performer hasn’t had such a positive start to the year.
Partnering with Nickelodeon, Siwa released a board game for kids called JoJo’s Juice. Being so incredibly popular, the game flew off shelves as soon as it was released. However, there was one problem. Some of the content was more suitable for adults than for kids, tweens or even teens.
JoJo’s Juice contains truth or dare type cards, which had questions such as: “Have you ever walked in on someone naked or had someone walk in on you?” or “Have you ever gone outside without underwear (a bathing suit doesn’t count)?”
Parents took to social media in droves complaining about the game, calling it “problematic” considering her audience — and to be fair, any audience?!
Coming to her own defence, Siwa was forced to make a statement.
“It has been brought to my attention by my fans and followers on TikTok that my name and my image have been used to promote this board game that has some really inappropriate content,” she wrote.
“When companies make these games, they don’t run every aspect by me and so I had no idea of the types of questions that were on these playing cards.
“Now, when I first saw this, I was really really really upset at how gross these questions were and so I brought it to Nickelodeon’s attention immediately.”
Ok, cool. So, Siwa has apologised. But to be honest, that doesn’t fix the real problem here. “They don’t run every aspect by me.” Hmmm…
Look, we get it. Siwa is a multi-millionaire, with a magic castle, bows, toys, make-up and a host of catchy songs and dance tunes that even North West is obsessed with. And there’s no doubt she hasn’t got time to look at every detail but surely, being her face and her name, it’s her responsibility.
Even if there was only one person on her team (i.e. her own momager, Jessalyn), who OK’d the content that she was selling — maybe someone would have picked up on the fact that walking in on someone naked is not OK, ever?
This is not the first time Siwa has released a product that has caused disarray.
Back in 2019, a makeup product was recalled from US retailer Claire’s after testing positive for asbestos. Firstly, how on earth did a product being mass-marketed go out without this test in the first place and secondly, who was even producing something with asbestos in it?
At the time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the following announcement. Yikes!
Today, the FDA is releasing new results from its continued testing of cosmetic products for asbestos & is warning consumers to not use 2 additional products that have tested positive for asbestos & have been recalled https://t.co/p4AACHd9y8 pic.twitter.com/DYtSelENEj
— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) June 6, 2019
Maybe after the first incident, someone on Siwa’s team should have been made responsible for anything going out with her face on it. After all, it would save a heck of a lot of money and those pesky legal fees.