JoJo Siwa addresses backlash over her new board game

JoJo Siwa, the former Dance Moms star and one-time T-Rex on The Masked Singer, is facing criticism yet again. Fans everywhere (and also their parents) got their high-ponytails in a knot this week after seeing some of the questions featured on the personality’s new board game, JoJo’s Juice.

The singer’s branded game poses questions like, “Have you ever walked in on someone naked or had someone walk in on you?” and “Have you ever gone outside without underwear (a bathing suit doesn’t count)?” Those are probably fine and well for a game of Truth or Dare or Never Have I Ever when you’re older, but as parents online argued, when posed towards children (the game is targeted at kids six-and-up) they become problematic.

As it turns out, Siwa had no clue that those kinds of questions would be included in the game at all, since she actually had nothing to do with its creation. When her followers pointed it out, she quickly shared a video online addressing the situation. “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 said.

“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,” Siwa added. “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.”

The 17-year-old revealed that since then Nickelodeon has reportedly been trying to block the game from being made. It is also working on pulling existing editions from shelves. “I hope you all know that I would never, ever, ever approve or agree to be associated with this game if I would have seen these cards before they started selling it,” she wrapped before thanking fans for sticking by her.

This isn’t the first time Siwa has had to defend herself in the public eye. Last summer after she dropped the video for her song “NONSTOP” some fans accused her of featuring a child in blackface in the background. The video was circus-themed, the singer defended, and the 12-year-old girl in question, Lilliana Ketchman, was dressed as a monkey. “People were sending me really horrible and disgusting messages about my appearance, my sexuality, my content, and overall just being hateful,” she said in a statement at the time. “I didn’t do anything that needs an apology,” she later added on Twitter. “This is me clearing things up.”

Siwa shot to fame as one of the personalities on Dance Moms but has since become her own entity with more than 10 million Instagram followers, 31 million fans on TikTok, 12 million YouTube subscribers, and her own line of hair bows, among other things. It’s no wonder that she didn’t have time to oversee a board game with her name on it (again, she’s 17), but here’s hoping for her sake that her team takes such things into consideration in the future.

BEFORE YOU GO: Mom mocks brother's modelling poses with hilarious pictures of her son

[video_embed id='2112242']BEFORE YOU GO: Mom mocks brother's modelling poses with hilarious pictures of her son [/video_embed]