The 19-year-old cleared up the confusion on TikTok.
Jojo Siwa is clarifying a statement that has been taken out of context. On Saturday, the 19-year-old So You Think You Can Dance judge took to TikTok to clear up some confusion -- following backlash she received after a recent interview.
During a conversation with Yahoo Life, the “Boomerang” singer jokingly revealed her qualms about the word lesbian. Siwa shared that while she enjoys being celebrated as a gay icon and identifies as a lesbian, it’s not a word she likes to use.
"I don't like the word itself," she joked with the publication. "It's just like a lot. But I mean, at the end of the day, that's what I am. ... It's like the word moist. It's just like ... ugh!"
Following the interview, the Dance Moms alum caught backlash from social media users who claimed that she put a negative connotation to the word. In her TikTok video, Siwa responded to a user who wrote “that is not what happened, she called it a dirty word. She did nothing but insult us, my sexuality is not a dirty word.”
@itsjojosiwa Replying to @🌈Liz🌈 ♬ Born This Way - Lady Gaga
“Okay, I've been going through my comments, and I just want to make something super clear, I never said that lesbian was a dirty word, and I never ever would say that it’s a dirty word because it is not,” the dancing pro who rocked a hoodie in the video said.
“It is not a bad word. It is not a slur, and it especially is not a word that I am ashamed of saying or ashamed of identifying as by any means.”
Siwa continued, “Now if you look at the comment that this is commented under -- if that makes sense -- it says ‘I'm sorry that people are trying to cancel you for not liking the sound of the word.’ And that’s exactly it. I don’t hate the word lesbian. I just, whenever somebody talks to me about my sexuality, I just say that that I'm gay. It's not a word that flows off the tongue for me if that makes sense.”
In January, Siwa marked her 1-year anniversary since coming out as a member of the LGB TQ+ community. In the emotional post, the dancer revealed that she has never felt more love.
In May, Siwa dished about her rekindled love with girlfriend Kylie Prew, who was her first relationship since coming out. The pair split in October but sparked romance rumors with a photo in May. At the time, Siwa opened up about her love to ET.
"I am in a relationship and I’m very happy and very lucky to be loved. It's been very nice," she said.
"I think something that's been great, is it's been so honest, and I think that's a mistake that I’ve made in the past, is maybe trying to be something that I maybe wasn't," she continued. "But this is just so pure and so honest, and it's so real and it just feels like I/we got it right."
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