If you’ve spent more than 5 minutes on YouTube (or you have kids), you know who Jojo Siwa is.
Recently, the online megastar celebrated her 16th birthday, and she was surrounded by some of Hollywood’s most famous kids.
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Here’s how Jojo’s sweet 16 went!
In the world of teenagers, 16th birthdays are a big deal
For many, 16 is the age that you can officially have a driver’s license.
So hitting the big 1-6 is definitely a rite of passage, especially in the social media age.
Honestly, MTV is to blame for all the hype
When My Super Sweet 16 originally premiered in 2005, the world was introduced to what the super rich get up to for their sweet 16s (and 18s, and quinceañeras).
The show is making its return after 10 years off the air, so 16th birthdays are more important than ever now.
Being a teenager sounds exhausting these days.
Now, to Jojo Siwa
For those of you who don’t know, Jojo is a hugely popular YouTuber.
She has over 9 million subscribers on her YouTube channel. She does it all: singing, vlogging, and collaborating with other YouTubers.
Kids really love her
Jojo is the perfect role model for little kids: she’s entirely parent-friendly, doesn’t swear, and puts out music that kids can listen to.
Her YouTube channel is bright and colorful, too, and obviously incredibly popular with children.
Her 16th birthday was sponsored by Nickelodeon
You know, just normal teenage things.
Not only did Nick sponsor her birthday, but they filmed the entire thing. It’s being turned into a special that will air on TV in May.
And she had some very famous guests
Among them: Kim Kardashian’s daughter, North West, Kourtney Kardashian’s daughter, Penelope Disick, and Ryan Romulus, daughter of Kanye West’s publicist.
Her birthday also had a pink carpet, which is…more than my 16th had, for sure.
It was also FULL of press
Different outlets had cameras, mics, and journalists on hand to cover her birthday.
They snapped pics of all the famous attendees posing with Jojo, too. It was lowkey a zoo of people.
She designed her outfit herself
At first, I didn’t know what was going on here, fashion-wise, but her interview finally clarified it.
“It’s actually very David Bowie inspired.”
Okay, Jojo! I see you, I see it. I get it now.
But not everyone loved it
The Instagram comments on her outfit are nothing short of brutal .
One commenter said: “she is going to be 16….. she would be in HIGH SCHOOL!!!! She dresses like this…… no reason why she WOULDN’T get bullied.”
Let’s all raise our kids to not bully other kids, random commenter whose name I refraining from posting.
Honestly, it’s hard to find a single compliment in the lot
I get it. She dresses and acts a certain way, which skews younger, to appeal to her audience.
But comments like, “Ur like older than me and u dress like a 6 year old and not a cute one” will do nothing but hurt her feelings, you know?
Twitter had a heyday
I appreciate this tweet, which is neither positive, nor negative.
It’s just a fact.
Additionally, let’s not leave out Hilary Duff, who also rocked looks like this on Lizzie McGuire . Or Raven Symoné on That’s So Raven.
Some observations were pretty tame
This tweet highlights exactly how I feel about all of this.
It looks like Jojo has a persona that she keeps up to appeal to her younger audience.
But you have to wonder when she gets time to just be a regular teenager.
But they mostly hated it
Like, again. I get that the packaged machine that is Jojo, her parents, and her publicists is really something we should discuss.
But bullying a 16-year-old is just not the tea for me, fam.
No matter what, kids love her
And that’s the audience she’s currently catering to.
It’s good for kids to have role models like Jojo. I just hope that this famous teenager gets to also live a normal life outside of the big Jojo Siwa persona.
However you feel about her, it’s clear she has powerful fans
It doesn’t matter if they buy her albums, or if they’re super famous. She seems like she’s doing her best to put goodness out into the world.
After all, why else would international superstar and drag queen Alyssa Edwards show up to her party dressed as a giant bow?
