JoJo Siwa says she lost sleep for three days after receiving negative comments related to her coming out.
The dancer and singer recounted the experience in a new cover story for People.
Siwa, a former contestant on Dance Moms, with 12.2 million subscribers on YouTube, came out publicly earlier this year. She received many messages of love and support, but also, as she told People, hostile reactions.
The creator, 17, told the publication she Googled herself after the announcement and read through the thousands of comments.
“I never should have done that,” she said. “I was thinking that all the comments were going to be nice and supportive, and they weren't. A lot of them were, ‘I'm never buying your merch again. My daughter’s never watching you again.’ I couldn’t sleep for three days.”
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Siwa said she then made peace with the situation, telling People: “My thing is, I don't want people to watch my videos or buy my merchandise if they aren't going to support not only me, but the LGBTQ community.”
In her conversation with the magazine, Siwa explained that she originally didn’t want to put a “label” on her sexuality, saying: “I still don't know what I am. It's like, I want to figure it out ... But like, I don't know, bisexual, pansexual, queer, lesbian, gay, straight. I always just say gay because it just kind of covers it or queer because I think the keyword is cool.”
Siwa added: “Technically I would say that I am pansexual because that’s how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human is my human.”
Siwa said she is now happier than she has ever been, thanks to the support she has received.
“Performing has always made me super happy,” she told the magazine. “But for the first time, personally, I am like, whoa, happiness. I am so proud to be me.”
