What to Know
After watching JoJo Siwa grow up on Dance Moms, not only did fans get to know her, but they also got to know her mom, Jessalynn Siwa, at the same time. In many ways, Jessalynn was the quintessential stage mom… but now, we know that as recently as last year, she stage mommed a little too hard and made JoJo’s audition tape for Disney’s live-action Tangled movie go viral without her daughter’s permission.
JoJo’s audition tape went viral last year.
@oomie.loo i found this amusing lol, she kinda ate that up tho #jojosiwa #jojo #audition #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ original sound – superepicawesomegamer
The video was briefly posted on JoJo’s Instagram account and then disappeared a short time later, but as we all learn at some point, the internet is, unfortunately, forever, and plenty of fans managed to save it before it was gone, including a few who shared it on TikTok to a much wider audience.
It seems like JoJo was pretty committed to wanting this role — after all, she even braided her hair and added flowers to it, just like Rapunzel does in the animated movie.
At the time, some fans were impressed with her acting chops, but others weren’t so kind about it, with one critic writing in a TikTok comment, “Rapunzel’s whole thing is about appearing delicate and sounding the same, but actually able to protect herself. JoJo isn’t that. Her voice also definitely isn’t that. I genuinely mean it, if she gets the [role], I will riot.”
Now, we know it was her mom who posted it.
@accesshollywood #JoJoSiwa is revealing who leaked her viral #Tangled audition tape! Watch the full #BehindTheEasel ♬ original sound – Access Hollywood
In an interview that Access Hollywood shared on TikTok last week, JoJo finally opened up about the real story behind that audition tape being shared. Not only is her mom to blame, but she also took the opportunity to share it while JoJo didn’t have access to the internet, social media, or the outside world in general while filming Big Brother.
“My own mother posted that while I was in the Big Brother house,” JoJo said, adding, “When I got out of the Big Brother house, one of the first things a fan said to me was ‘oh my god, your Tangled tape.”
Apparently, Jessalyn told JoJo it was a trend for celebrities to post their audition tapes, but JoJo wasn’t taking the bait.
JoJo did not seem happy that the footage even saw the light of day.
In fact, her exact words were: “That did not need to be seen by anybody.”
Once she was home and figured out what happened, she “had it out” with her mom.
“After she did that, I was like ‘bro, you have got to be kidding me,'” she said. “She was like ‘what? It was cute.'”
That’s a very mom thing to say… and hopefully, this did not have a lasting impact on her relationship with her mom. It wasn’t an embarrassing tape at all, but it makes total sense why JoJo would have felt that way (especially after she lost the part to Teagan Croft).
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