JoJo Siwa has been flooded with support after receiving backlash for cancelling her scheduled performance at Chicago’s Pride celebration on Saturday.
The scrutiny came from members of the LGBTQ community over her relationship with straight man Chris Hughes.
Back Lot Bash Chicago announced the cancellation early Saturday morning via Instagram Stories, citing “a scheduling conflict” without providing further explanation.
The withdrawal comes one day after the 22-year-old singer revealed that she felt pressured into identifying as a lesbian after coming out in 2021.
The cancellation has sparked speculation about whether it relates to recent criticism she has faced for dating Hughes, 32, a UK television presenter she met whilst competing on Celebrity Big Brother UK.
“When I came out at 17, I said: ‘I’m pansexual, because I don’t care [about gender].’ But then I kind of boxed myself in and I said: ‘I’m a lesbian.’ And I think I did that because of pressure,” Siwa told the Daily Mail.
She suggested the pressure came “from inside the [LGBTQ] community at times. From people I know, from partners I’ve had.”
The Dance Moms alumna met Hughes whilst they were both competing on Celebrity Big Brother UK, where he defended her against homophobic comments from fellow contestant Mickey Rourke.
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Their relationship evolved from friendship to “platonic soulmates” before becoming romantic, with the couple going public earlier this month.
Social media reactions to the cancellation have revealed sharply divided opinions within the community.
“Imagine making your ENTIRE personality be about how gay you are then you meet one weird older dude that’s manipulative and calculating and you cheat on your partner with him and decide you’re not gay,” wrote one user.
Another commented: “You don’t go from being a lesbian, to being in love with a dude overnight. Or you never really were gay in first place.”
However, supporters defended the star, with one writing: “People are being extremely unfair to JoJo. I’m not a fan but she’s young. She’s figuring things out, in the public eye which has to be a nightmare in itself.”
Another added: “She can be pansexual if that’s what she feels. She is allowed to explore until she find what’s right for her.”
Siwa originally came out as pansexual in February 2021, telling People magazine: “I still don’t know what I am… bisexual, pansexual, queer, lesbian, gay, straight. I always just say gay because it kind of covers it or queer because I think the Q-word is cool.”
Since coming out, she has been linked to several women including Kylie Prew, Katie Mills, Avery Cyrus, Dakayla Wilson and Kath Ebbs.
The Pride cancellation follows her postponement of the entire US leg of her tour earlier this month, with hints that European dates might be added instead.
Responding to criticism on Wednesday, Siwa told TMZ that “the LGBTQIA community needs to remember that love is love.”