JoJo Siwa Responds After Facing Backlash Over Her Dislike of the Word 'Lesbian'

JoJo Siwa is setting the record straight.

In a recent interview with Yahoo! Life, the 19-year-old performer explained that despite identifying as a lesbian, she doesn’t like using that term.

“I don’t like the word itself,” she said. “It’s just like a lot. But I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what I am.”

She added, “It’s like the word moist. It’s just like… ugh!”

Her remarks faced backlash on social media, with fans accusing JoJo of insinuating that the word “lesbian” had a negative connotation.

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“Um in light of a recent [JoJo Siwa] interview, here’s a quick reminder that lesbian isn’t a bad or dirty word,” one person wrote on Twitter, while another added, “[JoJo Siwa] comparing the word lesbian to the word moist.. lesbian is not a dirty word how many times do we have to say this.”

JoJo responded to the criticism in a video posted to TikTok, clarifying that she “never said that lesbian is a dirty word.”

“I never would say that it’s a dirty word because it is not. It’s not a bad word, it’s not a slur, it’s especially not a word that I am ashamed of saying or ashamed of identifying as by any means,” she continued, explaining that her aversion to the word is solely based on the way it sounds.

“I don’t hate the word lesbian, whenever someone talks to me about my sexuality I just say that I’m gay,” she added. “It’s not a word that flows off the tongue for me, if that makes sense?”

Check out the full video down below.

Earlier this week, JoJo posted a separate TikTok about a viral video in which she named the rudest celebrity she had ever met. Find out more here.