“I had shady deals” — JoJo Siwa talks about being “taken advantage of” professionally as a child star

Former Nickelodeon star JoJo Siwa revealed that she was "taken advantage of" while working as a child actor in Hollywood. The actress signed for Nickelodeon in 2017 at the age of 14 and appeared in multiple children's songs, shows, and films for the network.

During an interview on the Australian radio show Smallzy's Surgery on Thursday (May 9), JoJo Siwa revealed that she was taken advantage of as a child, although it was in a "business way" and not a "sexual way," which supposedly means she was not guided well professionally as a child artist. She said —

"I had shady deals and yes, I got f**ked over as a kid and taken advantage of as a kid but not in a se*ual way, it was a business way."

The actress did not give any names or specify when or where she was allegedly taken advantage of. However, she gave her two cents about the "dark stories" of how child artists are allegedly "groomed," calling it "sickening."

"I think that to hear children's dark stories... that child stars were groomed or child stars were in some of the worst cases molested – I mean, it so sickening. But I do have to say that I really appreciate those child stars coming forward, being open about their stories, because that is stuff that I'm lucky that I didn't have to deal with. But it is still going on," she continued.

The actress spoke about the "dark stories" in the context of the 2024 docuseries Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. The show focuses on the toxic work culture of the various iconic children's TV shows that aired during the 1990s and 2000s.

The series specifically focuses on Dan Scheider's time at Nickelodeon as a showrunner and producer. Siwa felt she was "lucky" that she never had to deal with sexual harassment while working as a child artist and thought it was brave of other child stars to come out with their stories in the docuseries.

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JoJo Siwa's career with Nickelodeon

Born in 2003, JoJo Siwa began her career by becoming the youngest contestant in Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition season 2. She subsequently appeared as a dancer on the reality TV show Dance Moms, alongside her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, for two seasons. In 2016, Siwa released two songs, Boomerang and I Can Make You Dance.

In 2017, Siwa signed a deal with the children's television network Nickelodeon and went on to star in multiple films and shows for the network. She first appeared in the film Blurt! (2018), alongside Jace Norman. She was also a part of the show Lip Sync Battle Shorties and appeared in two episodes of School of Rock.

JoJo Siwa made a special appearance as herself in the iconic Nickelodeon series Spongebob Squarepants in the episode SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout in 2019.

In 2020, she participated in The Masked Singer season 3 as T-Rex. The actress has also appeared as a playable character in Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix and in its 2022 sequel, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway.

JoJo Siwa was a part of the first same-sex dance partnership in Dancing With the Stars season 30, where she and her partner, Jenna Johnson, were placed second. The singer was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in 2021.

Siwa has also appeared and starred in multiple Nickelodeon specials, such as Nickelodeon's Ultimate Halloween Costume Party, Nickelodeon's Not-So-Valentine Special, and Nickelodeon's Ultimate Halloween Haunted House.

The singer also lent her voice to the characters Jay/Kira in The Angry Birds Movie 2 and released her feature film, The J Team, in 2021. In 2024, JoJo Siwa launched another song, titled Karma.