13 shocking revelations from a documentary about child stars

“When I was 17, it just became something I didn't want to be a part of at all. I would do anything to get away from it or get out of it. People would always ask me, 'Are you gay?' and I'd be like, 'I think I'm nothing,'” she said. “I was on FaceTime with my friend and I made a video of me singing 'Born This Way,' and I was like, 'I think I want to put this in my Reels story,' because it was just my close friends.”

She continued, “I didn't realize that no child star had ever come out as a child star before. The president of the network called me and asked, 'What should we tell the kids?' I said, 'What do you mean?'” JoJo said the manager told her to call “every retailer” and “tell them not to go crazy.”

“After I came out, everything changed,” she claimed. “The way they communicated with me changed. The way they worked with me changed. The way they developed my work changed. Everything changed.”

When this story was first published, a Nickelodeon spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter, “We are not aware of the incident JoJo is referring to and she has certainly not been blacklisted by Nickelodeon. We have valued and supported JoJo throughout our incredibly successful partnership, which, in addition to our many collaborations together, has included a JoJo Pride collection at a major national retailer. We continue to cheer her on and wish her nothing but the best.”