If you haven’t been paying attention to JoJo Siwa in the years since she departed from Dance Moms, you probably missed the influencer’s latest artistic ventures. Since her reality dance competition, Siwas Dance Pop Revolution premiered in 2021, the dancer-turned-manager has been building a girl-pop group to rival K-pop standards.
But it seems that all that glitters isn’t gold; several former members of the group, as well as sources involved with production, have recently come forward to say that Siwa is no better than her former dance teacher, Abbey Lee Miller. Not only did Siwa learn how to property Sauter from the ALDC, but she also mastered how to be a nightmare to work with.
What is XOMG Pop!
XOMG Pop! was formed in 2021. JoJo Siwa and her mother, Jessalyn Siwa, hosted a reality TV style dance competition on Peacock. The group was meant to act as openers for Siwa’s concerts, and serve as a potential alternative to KidzBop style music. Young performers from around the country auditioned, and after 8 episodes, 6 girls were chosen.
A 7th girl was added early on, and for a moment it seemed the group would find success. They garnered more than 12 million subscribers on YouTube, hosted Podcasts with thousands of listens and performed with Siwa around the globe. A little over a year into their success, things took a turn. Kiya Barczyszyn was unceremoniously removed from the team, the Siwas offered no explanation on social media. A year later, Leigha Sanderson abruptly exited as well. Shortly after she departed, Bella Cianni and Kinley Cunningham dropped out of the group as well.
Currently Xomg Pop! has 4 members, but recent performances have shown that the group is in an abysmal state. Fans have started petitions for the Siwas to show some kind of transparency, but as of yet, the family has yet to comment on the allegations against them.
What is the Xomg Pop! – JoJo Siwa controversy?
Rolling Stone broke the news of Siwa’s terrible working conditions in mid-February 2024. The deep dive article hinges on testimony from former XOMG Pop! member Leigha Sanderson as well as several unidentified sources close to production. Sanderson, a passionate dancer who suffers from spina bidifa, says that Siwa is nothing like the bubbly, cheerful persona she grew up watching. Instead, she describes her as sneering, and cruel.
When the girls signed up for the competition, Sanderson’s mother says it was billed as “a kinder, gentler version of Dance Moms.” She felt secure sending her daughter into the lion’s den saying, “With what Jess and JoJo went through on Dance Moms, we thought they wouldn’t want to do anything that would make a child feel a certain way.”
Instead, it was the stuff of nightmares. They say that Siwa would scream insults at them, Sanderson pointed to a performance the group did at the Mall of America where she alleges that Siwa was screaming into the girls’ headsets saying, “You’re sucking,” “Bring it up,” “The energy is low,” and, “You look sloppy.” Another source verified this interaction.
The Siwas fostered a cutthroat environment by pitting group members against one another. Two blond girls were constantly compared to one another, to the point that one of them dyed her hair to escape it. Sanderson says this constant contention made it almost impossible to form a group connection.
In true Dance Moms style, celebrity status was dangled in front of the girls, and producers would berate them into crying, then encourage them to show the tears on camera. After emotional torment, the girls would return to their rooms to find “a candy basket and a Nintendo Switch,” to curry their favor. According to one source within production, an on-set adage was, “it’s not a good day unless you make a kid cry.”
The sources close to production allege the working conditions were grueling. The compensation was low, the 7-member group split 20% of their merchandising revenue between them, earning an abysmal 2.8% per girl. Rehearsals would sometimes forgo school breaks and the Siwas showed little concern for Sanderson’s condition. She was pushed to return to rehearsals just 3 weeks after undergoing spinal surgery with a recovery time of 6 weeks. Despite the bad blood, terrible conditions, and disrespect, the Sanderson couldn’t walk away willingly. There was a potential movie on the horizon and a multi-million-dollar toy deal, “We just Drank the Kool-Aid,” she told Rolling Stone.
Despite their issues, the Sanderson’s didn’t leave willingly. When they were kicked from the group after a confrontation, Anjie pleaded for her daughter’s slot – a move that the Siwa’s claim discredit her accusations. We’re guessing Jess has forgotten the many times she and Abbey Lee butted heads over the former dance teacher’s abysmal treatment of kids.
The Siwas and the production company behind Siwas Dance Pop Revolution naturally dispute the claims. Several years’ worth of silence makes it hard to fully believe their end of the story, but the remaining members have rushed to stand behind JoJo and her mother.
While the Siwas and those closest to them say the intentions behind the group were pure, its execution left much to be desired. The Siwas denied the claims via their legal counsel, who blamed it on the “momager’s own abusive behavior.” It reads like a line right out of Abbey’s playbook, it wasn’t the teacher’s fault, it was the mom’s for speaking up in the first place.
