Kit Roberts
JoJo Siwa has prompted raised eyebrows online after posting a video in which she said she claimed to be inventing a genre called 'gay pop'.
The clip was part of an interview with Billboard to promote Siwa's new single Karma.
Siwa, who came out as gay in January 2021, said: "'When I first signed with Columbia, I said I wanted to start a new genre of music.
"They said, 'What do you mean?', and I said, 'It's called 'gay pop'. It's like K-pop but it's gay pop'."
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Twin pop stars Tegan & Sara, who are themselves part of the LGBTQ+ community, responded to the clip to seemingly drag Siwa for the claim. You can watch it here:
The clip was then spotted by queer pop stars Tegan & Sara, who took the opportunity to let their expressions speak for themselves.
They stitched the video online, and were shown raising their eyebrows and pointedly nodding their heads in a silent rebuttal of Siwa's claim.
They also wrote in the caption: "These gay popstars love Jojo."
Later in the interview, Siwa also explained her definition, adding: "It’s that world of music, where it’s not necessarily pop – it’s not giving you Katy Perry ‘California Girls’ pop, it’s giving you Lady Gaga ‘Judas’.”
However, the Dance Moms star's remark has caused some controversy on social media.
"Listen, no hate to JoJo, but she should not say she invented gay pop." one person said, while others named singers who they would classify as having an influence, like Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Lady Gaga, Dusty Springfield and Prince - to name a few.
Among the criticism was TikToker lemongayde, whose reply has been viewed on the app 2.1 million times.
The TikToker expressed disappointment about the musician's claims despite having been happy when she first came out.
"Part of being young and queer and coming out and joining this community - entering into this space - is learning your history," they said, adding: "Learning your roots and knowing where we've come from, and knowing just how much work it has taken to get us where we are today.
"And to say something as outlandish at the age of f**king 20 as you invented the genre of 'gay pop' is achingly disrespectful.
"You could not have invented something that has been going on long before you were born."
In an interview with Buzzfeed, they said that they are 'not an expert in this area', but added that they were bothered by Siwa's 'choice of wording',
which they said 'made it appear she believes she's starting something entirely new, which she is not'.
However, they added that she is 'young' and has 'so much time to learn and grow as a person'.
And Siwa has since rowed back on the remark, clarifying that she did not want to look like she had 'invented' the genre, but that she wanted to build on what was already there.
In an interview with TMZ, she said: "I definitely am not the inventor of gay pop, for sure not.
"But I do want to be a piece in making it bigger than it already is. I want to bring more attention to it."
UNILAD has reached out to representatives of JoJo Siwa for comment.