JoJo Siwa is confronting her experience of being a child star in Hollywood – and that of so many others like her.
In an interview with Nova’s Smallzy’s Surgery on Thursday, Siwa, now 20, admitted that she felt she was exploited by the industry.
“I had shady deals and yes, I got f***** over as a kid and taken advantage of as a kid but not in a sexual way, it was a business way,” she admitted.
The former Nickelodeon star then alluded to the ongoing controversy surrounding sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of the network’s executives, detailed in the harrowing docuseries, Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
“I think that to hear children’s dark storie – that child stars were groomed or child stars were in some of the worst cases molested – I mean, it’s so sickening,” she noted.
However, the Karma singer clarified again that she feels “lucky” to not have had such experiences.
“But I do have to say that I really appreciate those child stars coming forward, being open about their stories, because that is stuff that I’m lucky that I didn’t have to deal with,” she said, acknowledging that “it is still going on.”