JoJo Siwa , the 18-year-oldNickelodeon star, put her company on blast on Twitter.- Siwa says Nickelodeon won't let her perform her new music on her upcoming tour.
- She wrote that she's a "real human being" being treated as a brand.
JoJo Siwa, the children's entertainer known for her oversized bows, is accusing Nickelodeon of treating her as a "brand" rather than a "real human being" after working with the
In two tweets on Tuesday night, the 18-year-old multi-hyphenate star and influencer said the company restricted her from performing her new music on her upcoming tour.
"I go out on tour in January. My movie musical was just released (with 6 new original songs)… Nickelodeon told me today that I'm not allowed to perform/add any of the songs from the film into my show," Siwa tweeted. "These are MY songs, MY voice, MY writing. Does this seem fair???"
Siwa also shared screenshots of the tweets on her Instagram, where she has nearly 11 million followers.
"There is no reason that this music should not be included. Working for a company as a real human being treated as only a brand is fun until it's not," Siwa continued.
Siwa's manager and her girlfriend Kylie Prew shared her tweets about Nickelodeon on their own Instagram accounts.
Siwa tweeted again on Wednesday asking followers and Nickelodeon to remember she's a human, "not just a brand."
-JoJo Siwa!❤️ (@itsjojosiwa) September 15, 2021
"I want my concert to be the BEST it can possibly be, and I want to perform the songs that YOU have been waiting to hear for 2 years," Siwa said in the tweet. "Having the music from my movie in my show is important to me, I wish it was important to Nickelodeon."
Representatives for Nickelodeon and Siwa didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
The upcoming movie-musical Siwa referenced is also a Nickelodeon production called "The J Team," which started streaming on Paramount+ on September 3. In February, Siwa told Jimmy Fallon that she originally wrote 27 new songs for "The J Team" before narrowing down the tracklist.
According to Siwa's interview with Fallon on "The Tonight Show," the movie features six new original songs, as well as two of Siwa's old songs, one of which was remixed for the film.
Siwa's upcoming D.R.E.A.M. tour is also in partnership with Nickelodeon, according to the tour's website. It kicks off in Spokane, Washington, on January 13, 2022, and 37 tour dates are planned in total.
While Siwa has her own management team separate from Nickelodeon, her brand is closely aligned with the company. After debuting on the "Dance Moms" franchise in 2015, Siwa began appearing in Nickelodeon TV shows in 2016 and signed with the company in 2017.
Siwa has since starred in "The JoJo and BowBow Show Show," toured internationally with Nickelodeon in 2019, and released three EPs through Viacom, Nickelodeon's parent company.
Through Nickelodeon and her own social media channels, Siwa has risen to massive success in the kids' entertainment sphere. Her YouTube channel has over 12 million subscribers and she was included on Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.