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Joelle Joanie Siwa, more commonly known as JoJo, rose to fame as a child after starring in Dance Moms in 2015. Known worldwide for her bubbly personality and rare aesthetic of pink and other vibrant colors, Siwa launched her own YouTube channel, which has garnered more than 10 million subscribers. Siwa’s successful music career, merch sales, and widely followed channels only ballooned her fame. However, this ended abruptly in 2024, along with Siwa’s new single, “Karma.”
In 2024, Siwa released her new single, “Karma,” a song that stunned people worldwide due to Siwa’s dramatic persona change. Historically, Siwa’s audience has consisted almost entirely of young pre-teens, according to The Torch. Considering this, her new explicit concept is an obvious no-no for younger viewers. From mature content in the music video that disgusted her fans to heavy reliance on auto-tune, “Karma” became the negative turning point in Siwa’s road to stardom.
The public’s general distaste for Siwa’s new style led to an instant backlash that damaged her career permanently. According to the New York Post, Siwa has no claim on the song. The original version, “Karma’s a B*tch,” was initially released by Brit Smith in 2012. But instead of admitting what she’d stolen, Siwa denied the fact and pointed out that “I did not steal anything. There’s no such thing as stealing,” on Yahoo. The general public hostility towards Siwa’s lack of originality only deepened after this unfortunate statement, and many people claimed that they liked Smith’s version better, boosting her version to No. 5 on the iTunes chart and above Siwa’s.
After Siwa’s “Karma,” many people in the uproar decided to dig deeper into Siwa’s past, resurfacing some segments not many know. According to Vox, Siwa’s list of controversies and allegedly offensive behaviors included creating an abusive work environment for members of her failed pop group, XMOG POP!, by forcing members to perform while being sick and scheduling grueling rehearsals in poor environments. Though many people requested a valid explanation, Siwa doubled down rather than apologizing and continued as though nothing had happened. If “Karma” was never released, introducing Siwa’s failed rebranding, many of these past backlashes may have never made as big of an impact.
Although Siwa’s “Karma” had the potential for success because of the song’s catchy lyrics, it was ultimately crushed by the overly explicit choreography, plagiarized lines and Siwa’s denial of true accusations, ultimately allowing her notoriety to surpass her fame. On the whole, Siwa’s attempt at rebranding was a failure mainly due to “Karma,” sparking a long chain of events that completely destroyed JoJo Siwa’s career.
