JoJo Siwa Cancels Pride Gig Amid Claim She Felt ‘Pressure’ To Identify As Lesbian

JoJo Siwa has shocked fans with a surprising move to cancel her performance at Saturday’s Pride celebration in Chicago.

This comes just one day after she revealed she felt “pressure” from inside the LGBTQ+ community to call herself a lesbian.

JoJo Siwa, who has only dated women since coming out in 2021, is now in a full-blown relationship with Chris Hughes, whom she calls “the favorite part of my life.”

Siwa is seemingly going through a career makeover as she cancelled her Saturday performance at the Pride celebration in Chicago.

According to the Daily Mail, the organizers of the event, Back Lot Bash Chicago, took to their Instagram Stories early Saturday morning to make the announcement.

“Due to a scheduling conflict, JoJo Siwa will no longer be performing at Chicago’s Back Lot Bash,” the statement read, without further explanation.

The former Nickelodeon star has often supported and associated with the LGBTQ+ community since coming out as a lesbian in 2021.

The move comes just a day after Siwa told the Daily Mail she felt “pressured” to call herself a lesbian.

“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,” she explained.

“In a weird way, I think [the pressure] came a little bit from inside the [LGBTQ] community at times. From people I know, from partners I’ve had,” Siwa continued.

She added, “You just get put in this world where you feel like, because you now have said, ‘Oh, I’m a lesbian,’ you have to be a lesbian. And the truth is, sexuality is fluid.”

The “Dance Moms” alum has dated several women in the past but is now in love with Chris Hughes, whom she met while they were both competing on “Celebrity Big Brother UK.”

Siwa’s admission sparked a contentious debate on social media, with some critics calling her out for not taking “accountability.”

“JoJo doesn’t take accountability for anything like even at seventeen years of age surely at that age she would be able to stand up for herself like at that age she is near enough an adult if Jojo knew she was pansexual she made the decision to be lesbian for a reason,” a user wrote on X.

Another user wrote, “Ok, but you leaned on your sexuality hard to the point of making that your personality. If you were unsure, you shouldn’t have made that choice so soon.”

However, some other social media users thought her point was “understandable.”

A user wrote, “I mean I’m not a fan of how she approached & boxed herself under a category to face less judgment, but her fear of facing biphobia is real & understandable.”

Another user penned, “I’m sure a lot of people in the industry get the same pressure. It’s not cool to be straight anymore.”

A third added, “I think she’s essentially talking about being impacted by biphobia.”

Siwa’s latest interview about feeling “pressure” to identify as lesbian comes a few months after she made a major confession about her sexuality.

During a conversation with a fellow housemate on “Celebrity Big Brother,” Siwa revealed she no longer considered herself to be a lesbian after identifying as one for years.

“I’ve never – I think I’ve always told myself, I’m a lesbian. I think you – I think being here – I’ve realized I am not a lesbian, I’m queer,” Siwa told “Rupaul’s Drag Race UK” star, Danny Beard.

“And I think that’s really cool, I’m switching letters! I’ve dropped the L and I’ve gone to the Q, baby! That’s what I love about sexuality,” she added, per The Blast.