There was a notable absence on the red carpet at this year's Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Despite being nominated in the category of Favorite Social Music Star, out singer JoJo Siwa (and all her sparkly regalia) didn't attend the network's annual award show last Friday, and fans noticed.
Taking to social media, Siwa's followers began asking where she was.
Siwa opened up about what happened -- or, more accurately, didn't happen -- on her Instagram. "A lot of you have been asking me why I'm not at the
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards tonight, and the answer is very simple -- I wasn't invited," she explained on Sunday. "I'm not sure why, but I just didn't get an invite."
She wanted it to be very clear for fans who might have thought she didn't show up by choice that this wasn't the case. "I don't want anyone to think it was my choice not to go.... I simply didn't get an invite," she reiterated.
Siwa has, in the past, been outspoken about Nickelodeon's choices, particularly in September 2021 when she called the company out for not allowing her to play particular songs on her D.R.E.A.M. tour. "I go out on tour in January. My movie musical [The J Team,] was just released (with 6 new original songs)... Nickelodeon told me today that I'm not allowed to perform/add any of the songs from the film into my show. These are MY songs, MY voice, MY writing. Does this seem fair???" she tweeted at the time.
Siwa's explanation for not being invited has fans calling out Nickelodeon for an apparent decision to exclude the star from its celebration.
Nickelodeon hasn't commented on Siwa's allegations as of this writing.