JoJo Siwa Says Paparazzi Called Police To Her Home For A Photo Opp After Coming Out
JoJo Siwa is speaking up after video of police officers at her home circulated online.
The 17-year-old star, who came out as a member of the LGBTQ community this weekend, revealed that she was “swatted.” According to 911.gov, “swatting” is “false reporting an emergency to public safety by a person for the intent of getting a (‘SWAT team’) response to a location where no emergency exists.”
During an Instagram live with her friend Nate Javier, JoJo explained the situation in detail, telling fans, “Our house got swatted. We were at our house and, all of a sudden, there was a whole bunch of police telling us to come outside the house. And we didn’t know why.”
“We went outside, hands up, like you have to. The police were saying that somebody had called and made a claim and then all of a sudden paparazzi came around the corner. It’s called swatting where the media will actually call the police so that way you have to come out outside your house,” she continued.
It hasn’t been confirmed yet if paparazzi were indeed the source of the call to police. However, JoJo believes that the excitement over her coming out story may have prompted the swatting.
“I recently told the internet how happy I was and told the internet that I am whatever I am. I told the internet, ‘No matter gay, straight, or bi, Lesbian, transgendered life, I’m on the right track, baby, I was born to survive.’ The only reason why I’m not saying what I am is because I don’t really know, but I know I’m really happy and that’s all that matters,” JoJo said.
My cousin got me a new shirt pic.twitter.com/DuHhgRto7b
— JoJo Siwa!🌈❤️🎀 (@itsjojosiwa) January 22, 2021
“But since I recently ‘came out’ to the internet, which is officially the term, the media is obviously very excited, which I love and I love the support,” she continued. “However, you know, you could’ve just hung outside my house and I would’ve eventually came outside.”
The “Boomerang” singer also expressed concern that police resources were wasted, adding, “I feel bad because there was about 50 police outside my house and those police could have had much better time spent somewhere else actually helping somebody instead of dealing with a fake claim from paparazzi. Literally just come ring my doorbell, paparazzi. I’ll wave to you from my window.”
“It’s sad to me that that’s what it took for somebody to want to take a picture,” she said. “Never prank the police. That is the most wrong thing to do. It is very, very illegal. The people will get in a lot of trouble.”
Despite the swatting drama, JoJo seems to be in high spirits since coming out. “I have never ever, ever been this happy before, and it feels really awesome,” she said in a candid Instagram video.