Not so long ago, it was rare for mainstream pop stars and personalities to come out. Fears of plummeting sales and backlash from fans kept many entertainers in the closet well into their careers. Clay Aiken dodged questions about his sexuality for years before coming out because he was starting a family. “I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things,” he said in a 2008 People cover story that showed him holding his baby.
Nickelodeon star JoJo Siwa, who was born the year Aiken was runner-up on American Idol in 2003, is proof of how much times have changed. The 17-year-old has seen both her popularity and favorability rise since coming out publicly as part of the LGBTQ+ community in January, according to a new survey conducted by Insider.
Siwa was already among the most famous influencers in survey data gathered by Insider in December, the month before she came out. But so far this year, she’s grown in popularity more than any other public figure included in the publication’s Insider Influencer Index. Of 75 such personalities, Siwa was known to 27% of the 1,000 people surveyed; that figure jumped to 36% in the most recent survey, an increase Insider considers “statistically significant.”
The stats are especially meaningful given that Siwa’s coming out has been largely unprecedented. Though other artists who became popular as kids, including pop stars Miley Cyrus and Ricky Martin, have subsequently come out as queer, Siwa is the youngest and most famous ever to do so. Even Lil Nas X, who has expressed his personal support for Siwa, was 20 when he came out in 2019, with a decidedly more adult aesthetic than Siwa’s vibrant brand of rainbow adolescence.
The Dance Moms alum had a lot on the line when she decided to come out. In addition to her contract with Nickelodeon, Siwa’s global merchandise empire is jaw-dropping in scale. Sales of her signature hair bow alone are estimated to have brought in $400 million, according to Forbes. In a recent People cover story, Siwa appears perched atop the backseat in one of two Mercedes convertibles that are painted with her face on them.
Siwa has reflected on the stakes of her coming out. “I had a lot that could have gone away because of my love life and my happiness,” Siwa says in a video accompanying the People story. “And if it was to all go away because of that… so be it.” If there’s somebody who won’t accept you for who you are, “you might not want that person in your life,” she said.
Not only has Siwa become more widely known since opening up, but more people also expressed a favorable view of the out-and-proud star. Siwa’s favorability grew three percentage points among those familiar with her, while her unfavorability dropped by seven percent, according to the Insider survey.
After all, Siwa admits she’s just like any other queer teenager. “I go to the bathroom on my toilet with my face on it,” she told People with what the magazine calls “an echoing cackle.” “That’s normal. Right?”
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for them.’s weekly newsletter here.
