1 week Ago By Shannon Brown
JoJo Siwa's mother, Jessalynn Siwa, and partner Kath Ebbs have come forward to defend the 21-year-old singer after a series of homophobic incidents in the Celebrity Big Brother UK house involving Mickey Rourke . In an emotional Instagram video posted on Saturday, Jessalynn expressed her feelings after Mickey was kept in the house, saying, "I'm not surprised, honestly," and, "I'm not surprised that he didn't go home. I knew he wouldn't.
" She added it made her "really sad" to have sent her daughter to a foreign country for a TV show only to face such treatment right from the start . Jessalynn praised JoJo's handling of the situation, stating, "I think she handled it great. I think everyone has told me that she handled herself so well but that doesn't make it okay.
Doesn't make it right." She expressed relief that JoJo was able to handle herself and seemed okay on the live feed and other scenes from the show. "I'm just lucky she is okay.
I watch her on the live feed and in the rest of the scenes from the show and I think she looks great. I think she looks like she's doing what she always does," she said. JoJo Siwa was part of Dance Moms from age 11 to 15, featuring in Seasons 4 through 6.
She first gained recognition on Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition, a Dance Moms spin-off, at age 9. Jessalynn continued, "I mean come on. It's kind of become a culture.
It's become a game. It's a trend: 'Let's not like her. Let's hate her.
Let's make fun of her. Let's tell her she's a bad dancer. Tell her she can't sing.
Tell her you'll make her not a lesbian'." From her home in California, the 50-year-old addressed the camera while donning a black sweatshirt coupled with black wide-rimmed spectacles. Mickey, 72, was given a stern warning from Big Brother over the homophobic comments, when an episode this week saw him question the Karma singer about her sexual orientation and then proceeding to make harsh jibes.
In a contentious exchange, Mickey asked JoJo, "Do you like girls or boys?" Following her disclosure that her partner identifies as non-binary , Mickey retorted, "If I stay longer than four days, you won't be gay anymore." Later, Mickey asks Chris about the eviction process, threatening to get JoJo kicked out by noting, "I'm going to vote the lesbian out real quick." JoJo confronted him, saying, "That's homophobic, if that was your reasoning," while Chris Hughes admonished Mickey, insisting such remarks are unacceptable.
Mickey was rebuked by Big Brother and warned further similar language or behavior may result in his expulsion from the house. Sharing Jessalynn's Instagram post, JoJo's partner Kath added, "This times one thousand. Jo is one of the kindest most generous people I have ever come to know, let alone had the privilege to call my partner.
We all witnessed misogyny play out on national television these last two days and the support for her has been swift, which it should be, BUT that same level of misogyny is levelled at her daily by I'm sure a lot of folks who are currently backing her. "So I ask you, why did it take this level of attack to see her as human?" They added that the person viewers at home are watching is the real JoJo. "Sometimes the only fault that people can find in her is that they deem her cringe," they said.
"This is her. She's all of it. It's a really important moment for people to reflect on that.
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