JoJo Siwa’s new song Karma was released to mix reception, but when fans discovered that a singer by the name of Brit Smith first released the song in 2012, they were left fuming.
Amid the massive online hate that Siwa, 20, received as the old version began circulating social media, Smith, 38, took to TikTok to Siwa's defense
“I am here to set the record straight once and for all. JoJo did not steal my song,” she said, adding that she wants to “hopefully put an end” to all the online drama.
“[JoJo] was totally in the right to record her version, and I hate to see that anybody would think that I’m part of any kind of bullying or anything like that,” Smith asserted, explaining that she has firsthand experience of being bullied as a teen and has no desire to further propagate that behaviour.
“I just want to make it clear that JoJo has done nothing wrong to me,” she reiterated.
Karma was supposed to be Smith’s debut single in 2012, but it ended up getting scrapped and she left the industry soon after.
When fans discovered Brit’s version, they banded together to make it rank higher than JoJo’s version on iTunes.
Describing the recent wave of support she has received as a “crazy whirlwind,” Smith extended her gratitude for the support.
“The support you’ve shown me and you guys saying, ‘we wanna make her dreams come true 12 years later’ has just been so unbelievably nice – and even kind of inspired me a little bit to think about stepping back into this possibility,” she said.