-My next guest is a dancer, singer, actress,
and social-media superstar.
I mean, seriously superstar.
She has 32 million followers on TikTok
and over 12 million subscribers on her YouTube channel.
She works hard. She deserves it.
She's currently working on a new project
that she is announcing tonight.
I can't wait. Here is Jojo Siwa!
-Hey! I'm so excited!
Thank you for having me. -Welcome back.
Thanks for being here.
I know it's over zoom, but we appreciate it.
We have so much to talk about. -We do.
-One of the things I love about you
and your fans love about you is that you are always yourself.
You're always you. -Yes.
-And you're always leading by example
and spreading positivity, very positive.
-Thank you. -And you continue to do that
now more than ever. Two weeks ago, you posted this.
You opened up about being part of the LGBTQ community,
and immediately, love started pouring in
from all over the world. How does it feel?
Where were you in your head at the time?
-It was the most insane thing ever.
I mean, literally everyone and their brother messaged me,
called me, texted me, sent me an Instagram message, tweeted me.
It was the most love, I think, I've ever received,
and the coolest thing about it was it was just by me
showing the world the last little piece of me
that they haven't seen yet, and it was really awesome.
-Did you plan on doing it?
-So, that's actually what's funny about it.
So, I was doing TikToks with the people
who are in the Pride House.
That's, like, what their TikTok house is called,
is the Pride House. And I love them.
I've known them all for years, and so we were like,
"Let's just do some TikToks together
before I leave for Canada." And they come over,
and we're doing this TikTok, and I was like,
"I think this TikTok that we're doing to 'Ain't It Fun,'"
I was like, "I think this is gonna out me."
And I was like, "I don't really mind, because it is true."
I do have the most amazing, wonderful, perfect
most beautiful girlfriend in the whole world.
It's not something I'm ashamed of.
I just haven't shown the Internet yet.
And there's always been speculations, of course,
but so then I was like, "I think this is gonna out me."
So then I posted that -- they posted that,
and, of course, it did, and people started commenting --
and people started commenting to me, "Is this you coming out?
Like, is this you coming out? What is this? What is this?"
So I was like, "You know what I can do?
I can either mess with them and, like, tease a little bit,
I could either confirm it, because it is true,
or I can just kind of do nothing about it
and just kind of leave it there."
And I was like, "I want to do a TikTok to 'Born This Way.'"
'Cause it is true. I don't really want to be like,
"Yeah, it's true," right away, but I was like,
"I want people to know that, like, it's okay."
So I did this TikTok to "Born This Way,"
and everyone was like, "Whoa! This is her coming out!
This is her coming out! This is the moment!"
And I was like, "I..."
And then, my cousin had gotten me that shirt.
I took that picture like a week before
I posted it, and I actually -- I put it on
my close friend's Instagram story,
and all my friends know, all my family knows.
And then, one day, I was on FaceTime with my girlfriend.
This is the day after I posted the "Born This Way" TikTok.
And I was on FaceTime with her, and we were just
talking about it and talking about all the love
that came in, and we were both like,
"Technically, I still haven't confirmed it."
And so I was like, "I kind of want to post
this picture on my real story."
And she was super encouraging. She was like, "Do it."
and I was like, "All right!" And I did it.
And the funny thing is, is 10 minutes before I did that,
you can only imagine the press storm that was happening.
I mean, it was insane. -Yeah.
And 10 minutes before I posted that, my publicist was like,
"So, are you gonna confirm it?" and I was like,
"No, I'm not gonna confirm it yet."
10 minutes later, I post that picture and start texting her.
I was like, "Hey. So about not confirming it,
go look at my story." -"It's out."
Did you -- Did you -- Did you put your phone down?
Because you probably go like...
Either way, you're gonna get feedback.
You're gonna get good stuff, and you're gonna get bad stuff.
-Totally. -And you know it's gonna
start a conversation. -Yeah.
-And you're like, "Once I press this button..."
-There's no going back. -Yes.
-My thing with "coming out" is
it can be a very scary thing, you know?
Of course not everybody in the world is going to
accept it right now, but there are so many people
that are going to accept it right now.
And like I say, even if there's a million people --
say there's a million people -- that's a lot of people
that don't accept it, there's 100 million that do.
And I think that's something really important.
100 million is a lot of people, and so always keep that in mind.
But, also, I was like, "I don't want it to have to be
such a big thing." Like, what am I gonna do?
Like, have a coming-out party? No, it's just who I am.
And so, after I posted it, I was just kind of like,
"All right! I'll do it." Like, I was on the phone spontaneous,
like, 'cause she -- we're long-distance,
and so I was like, "All right, I did it."
Back to FaceTiming with her. And then it was like
two days later, I was again on the phone.
We're on the phone literally 24/7.
Both of our families get so annoyed at us, but it's okay.
It doesn't matter. But I was like,
"You know what I realized? How risky that was."
And she was like, "Well, what do you mean?"
And I was like, "Well, technically,
that was a really big risk that I took posting that."
But I was like, "But honestly --"
And she's like, "Why? Because you could've lost everything?"
And I was like, "Yeah. But if I lost everything
that I've created because of being myself
and because of loving who I want to love,
I don't want it. That's not what I want
if I can't love who I want to love."
That's one of the most important things to me.
And it was about 10 minutes before I came out
to do this interview today, I was again on the phone
with my girl, and I started crying.
And she's like, "What's wrong with you?"
And I was like, "I'm just so happy."
I was like, "Because now I get to share
what makes me the happiest with the world,
and it makes my heart so happy."
-There's a lot to be happy about.
I want to congratulate you, because you were named
one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Now, you are 17 years old
and one of the most influential people on the planet.
-Crazy. -How does it feel,
and do you feel different? -Isn't that crazy?
I mean, it is insane.
I don't feel different. I mean, nothing changed,
but I guess I didn't really realize what a big deal it was
until I actually saw the list
and saw the other people that were on it,
and then I was like, "Whoa. Like, this is a huge honor."
And, I mean, it's insane,
and I'm so thankful, and I'm so grateful.
Actually, something funny that came from it is,
we created a new game in my family and my close friends.
So, my best friend, Nate, we made a game
where I try to influence people to do something.
And it's the smallest things.
So, say we have a whole bunch of pizzas, and I'll be like,
to somebody, I'll be like, "Oh, my gosh.
Yeah, the cheese is good, but the pepperoni,
you gotta try the pepperoni."
And if I get them to do it, Nate and I look at each other,
and we're like, "Time 100, baby!
Up top!" -"That's how influential I am.
Look at how influential -- He doesn't even like pepperoni."
-We try. We try so hard, and it works.
And it's -- well, all the time, we're like, "Top 100, baby.
That's me." -Yeah. Why not?
I saw you did something over quarantine,
because obviously, we all had to cut the tours short
and all this no live events, and, you know, you --
when you're a performer, you have to perform.
We've had people on the show, comedians going like,
"I just miss it. I have to.
It's part of me." -Yeah.
-And you did something very cool.
You built a stage in your backyard.
-I did, I did. So, my mom was watching people
perform, like, from their living room,
and I was watching people perform from their couch.
And I was like, "I want to see a concert."
And my mom was like, "You should do one of these."
So, that was kind of where it came from, from me.
I was like, "I want to do one."
And my mom was like, "You should do one."
And I was like, "But I -- I can't."
I was like, "I can't sit on my couch and sing a song.
It just doesn't -- It doesn't work."
Like, I literally don't know how to do that.
I say all the time, "I'm an Ameri-can, not an Ameri-can't,"
but, like, I can't do that.
And she was -- she was like, "So then don't."
She was like, "Build a stage."
And I was like, "Well, all right."
And so I started looking on Amazon, and I was like,
"All right," I have these platforms in my cart,
and I was just gonna, like, do it for one week.
And then I was like, "This still doesn't feel right."
So I message my friend who kind of just can do anything.
And I was like, "Hey.
Do you have a guy that could help me build a stage?"
And she was like, "Yeah, let me get on it."
-[ Laughs ] I love it. Two seconds --
"Yeah. Of course." -Two seconds.
She was like, "Yeah, yeah, totally."
And so now it turned into this whole thing,
and it's so awesome, and it's so incredible.
I did it every Friday. I think I did --
I think I did 12 of them and then a few dance videos, too,
and it was just so much fun, you know?
And we put on full-blown shows of singing and dancing
and lights and music and a stage and costumes.
-Good for you. -And it was just --
It kept me so happy. We would shoot, like,
three of them in a week, and it just, that week,
I was always the happiest human.
-Speaking of costumes,
you have one of the biggest empires of consumer products.
I told you my girls are fans of yours,
and so we have bows all over the house,
we have headphones with bows on them, we have --
Your books, by the way, are fantastic.
-I love it. -We -- It's just --
I think they kind of started writing diaries.
But I think I've read somewhere
you've sold over 80 million hair bows.
Is that wild? -It's crazy.
It's so incredible. I'm so thankful.
I mean, my mom and I actually have been selling bows
for much longer than people think.
I'll never forget when I was --
I think I would've been 5 years old --
4 or 5 years old -- we used to go to our local,
you know, haircut places or little boutique stores,
and my mom told me, she was like, "Here, you carry them,
'cause you're cute and little,
and they'll want to buy it from you."
And I was like, "Okay!" So, we're walking in
with our little basket of bows.
And we tell the people, "Hey, do you want to buy some bows?"
And this one time, they're like, "Yeah, we'll buy it.
We'll buy 10 of them." And my mom and I,
we were, like, so pumped up.
We walk out of there with 100 bucks,
we're like, "We're going shopping!
We're going to lunch, we're going shopping!
It's gonna be the best day ever!"
And so now to think that that 10 bows
has translated into 80 million,
I mean, that is insane and amazing,
and I'm so thankful and so grateful.
Because of what the bow stands for, you know,
being yourself, being kind to everybody,
to think that there's 80 million of them out there,
it just -- it makes my heart so happy.
-You've accomplished so much, and you're still a teenager.
What would you say is your ultimate dream
or another dream, another goal?
Something you haven't done yet but you know one day you'll do.
-Oh, man. I -- Yeah.
My biggest dream, and it's coming up this weekend,
is to play the Super Bowl, to do the halftime show
at the Super Bowl.
I have seen every single one of them.
I mean, from Jackson --
Michael Jackson's Super Bowl show
to Gaga's Super Bowl show,
I think is probably my all-time favorite.
J.Lo's incredible.
I can't wait to see The Weeknd this year.
-Let's get him on the phone. We can get you --
The Weeknd -- Let me call The Weeknd.
-Beep boop boop! -Yeah, I'll call The Weeknd,
we'll get you a private plane to Tampa, and --
-Tell him I'll do a little "Blinding Lights"
for him on stage. I got it. I got the TikTok.
I got it. Let's go.
-Yeah. Of course, yeah. -Oh!
-We can totally get this happening.
-Yeah. -I can see you on that stage.
That is -- -Thank you.
-All right, let's put it out there in the world.
It's gonna happen. -I'm a believer.
I'm a "You believe it, one day..."
I might be 80 years old, "Coming to you live
from Jojo Siwa's death bed, here we go!
The Pepsi Halftime Show!" [ Both laugh ]
-You're wheeling out.
You're still doing "Blinding Light."
♪ Do, do do ♪ "Yeah, that song is old now."
Yeah, we're...
But you have a big --
You have a big announcement tonight.
-I do.
-Can you tell everyone where you are and what you're working on?
-So, I, right now, am in Vancouver, Canada,
and I am so excited, me and my friends at Nickelodeon,
we are making a musical, and I'm so pumped up about it.
This musical is centered around my life
and also centered around being yourself
and centered around staying true to who you are,
and even when the world is telling you
that it's not gonna happen, it's not gonna happen,
you're believing because you're you.
And that's -- that's what this movie is all about.
And the music in it I'm so happy about!
I have worked so hard on this soundtrack.
There's six original songs on the soundtrack
and then two of my old songs,
but one of them is like a full revamped --
remix, and it's so much fun.
But from the six original songs, I created 27.
Had to narrow it down to six.
So it's been a process, but it's been so much fun.
Now that we're actually here, it's happening,
we've been in quarantine in rehearsals.
We have an incredible director. We have an incredible writer.
Obviously, my friends at Nickelodeon, it's --
Aah! I'm so excited! -It sounds amazing.
Do you have a title? -We do. We do.
It's called "The J-Team." -"The J-Team"!
I'm on The J-Team! -You're on the J-Team!
Jimmy's on the J-Team. -That's you.
-See, people think it stands for The Jojo Team.
It's really the Jimmy Fallon Team.
Don't let it fool you. -That's what I'm talking about.