Topline
A docuseries on the personal and professional life of former child reality star turned TikTok-famous musician JoJo Siwa is in the works from the creator of “Dance Moms,” the franchise that gave the young artist her start when she was just 8 years old, the Resilient Content production studio confirmed to Forbes Tuesday.
Jojo Siwa performs at Los Angeles State Historic Park for Pride month on June 8, 2024.
Key Facts
"Dance Moms” creator Jeff Collins, who created Resilient Content in partnership with Sony in May, is creating a docuseries for Sony Pictures Television’s nonfiction unit that will follow Siwa’s “course as an adult pop star—evolving from the beloved child star audiences adored on screen.”
JoJo will tell stories in first person in the series and “reveal what it’s like to be one of the world’s most famous 20-year-olds running various businesses, fulfilling a recording deal, and living by herself for the first time,” according to Resilient Content.
Siwa has appeared in a handful of television series over the years, including “Dance Moms,” "Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition," "Lip Sync Battle Shorties," The Masked Singer," “Dancing with the Stars,” and "Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” but this would be the first show focused solely on her career and personal life.
No information was available on what platform may broadcast or stream the show once it’s made.
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Crucial Quote
“For the first time, audiences will get a glimpse of the persona as she reveals who she is in the quiet moments away from the blaring lights of the stage,” Resilient Content said in a statement.
Key Background
JoJo Siwa got her start on "Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition," which was also produced by Collins, when she was 8 years old. Soon after, she and her mother started to appear on the by-then-hit show "Dance Moms,” where she was a series regular for two seasons. After leaving the show, she released several songs, appeared on Nickelodeon television shows and launched a successful accessories brand for the accessory store Claire's that focused on her signature giant hair bows featuring bright colors, rhinestones and other decorations. She then competed on a series of reality shows and, in 2021, came out as gay after she posted a viral TikTok video dancing to Lady Gaga’s "Born This Way." Earlier this year, she released her official debut single "Karma" and called the song her "first breakout adult moment” after years of capitalizing on her popularity with a younger audience. She also debuted a new look when she showed up to the iHeartRadio music awards in a KISS-inspired black and silver costume.
Chief Critics
Siwa’s rebrand did not exactly go smoothly. The reception of "Karma" was generally negative and the song fell relatively flat after weeks of the star teasing it would launch her new image. Days later, a relatively unknown artist named Brit Smith who'd recorded the same song in 2012 released her version on TikTok and immediately went viral, earning her a higher rank on the iTunes chart than Siwa. A clip from an interview with Billboard went viral in which she said, "I want to start a new genre of music … it’s called ‘gay pop.'" She was immediately hit with backlash from people slamming her for claiming to have invented the idea, and later clarified with Billboard, “I am not the inventor of gay pop, for sure not," she said. “I’m not the president [of gay pop], but I might be the CEO, or the CMO.” Another interview she gave on TikTok has gone viral as people poke fun of her for hailing her rebrand as revolutionary. "No one has made this dramatic of a change yet,” Siwa said. “No one has made, in my generation, this extreme of a switch. I am the first in a generation and it is very scary, but, someone’s gotta do it.” Videos with the original sound from the interview have been made more than 21,000 times on TikTok.
