Graphic by Eveyln Kim ’25/The Choate News
By Matt Trudell ’25
The maturation of child stars in the entertainment industry is oftentimes as interesting and dramatic as the roles they play on the silver screen. JoJo Siwa, a child star who has reaped major success following her appearance on Dance Moms, has recently attempted a cosmetic and content rebrand doomed to fail due to the inauthenticity of the campaign and the inability to meet the expectations of her audience.
The rebranding of child stars is not merely a physical makeover or the adoption of a new fashion style, but instead a transition into a new identity and personality different from how they have been perceived since childhood. Unfortunately, not all rebrands are successful, leaving many child actors forgotten, as they fail to continue pandering to their audiences throughout rebrands.
After appearing on the reality television show Dance Moms from 2015 to 2016, JoJo Siwa secured her position as a national sensation. She has since worked with her manager Caryn Sterling to build a lucrative brand: JoJo branded T-shirts and shoes, castings in Nickelodeon shows, and an endless slew of social media content. She was even included on Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.
And despite her guaranteed success, fans of Siwa were caught off guard when she underwent a dramatic rebrand — Siwa replaced her side ponytail and G-rated entertainment for dry humping another person in a black skintight unitard in her new single “Karma.”
People become fans of celebrities because they want to see more of their work. Rather, fans want to see more content that emulates the things they previously enjoyed from these artists. Sure, fans might be amenable to their favorite celebrities taking on ventures that are unrelated to their expertise, but only ifas long as those very celebrities return to their trade.
The same goes for Siwa. There’s a reason why Siwa continued making content of the same tone as that found on Dance Moms — fans want more of Dance Moms. The success of artists is hugely dependent on their audience, and so they’re compelled to give the people what they want. And that’s what Siwa’s been doing for nearly a decade.
But, at a certain, point, there comes this semblance of repetition that kills the soul of artists. They’re tired of making the same thing over and over again. They want to try something new — and that’s what incites an artist to pivot in their creative process. Though we’ll never truly know Siwa’s intentions with the rebrand, it’s not farfetched to assume that she no longer wants to be known as the little girl who wears pink clothes and lip-syncs on reality TV. And so, Siwa decideds to undergo a complete social makeover to try to free herself from labels and stereotypes that had once limited her from creative freedom.
But the problem with these drastic rebrands is that they often clash with the desires of the fanbase. Though it’s hard to put into words, there was clearly something about Siwa’s content that was so appealing to a certain age demographic. The companion article written by Kim Kardashian for the aforementioned Time Magazine list notes, “You just can’t help but smile when you see her rainbow ponytail. She’s a great role model for children.” Fans know what they want and they’re used to their favorite artists giving them exactly that. And so, when they’re presented with something so jarring, it’s bound to confound them.
In an interview with Access Hollywood, Siwa explained that the rebrand has been a long time coming, citing her inspiration as Miley Cyrus: “I want to do what she did with Bangerz. I want to have that moment.” This might’ve been the final nail in the coffin for Siwa’s rebrand — by insinuating that the rebrand would be permanent, it ensures that the Siwa’s remaining fans who had hoped “Karma” was a one-off venture would slowly lose interest in Siwa.
To make matters worse, fans are questioning if Siwa’s rebrand was merely an attempt to attract a wider base of fans. It has since been discovered that “Karma” was not written by Siwa (as noted by her exclusion in the song’s songwriting credits), but could potentially be a scrapped Miley Cyrus song from 2011. Siwa’s attempt to emulate the aesthetics of Cyrus’s rebrand by copying her fashion and using her unreleased music implies Siwa isn’t actually interested in the new art she’s making. Instead, it seems Siwa is interested in the success Cyrus attained after her rebrand.
And so, Siwa’s most recent rebrand confirms once more that a rebrand shouldn’t stem from an attempt to capitalize on an untouched demographic, but from natural publicity attained via passion projects and genuine interests. Moreover, celebrities must learn to balance “pleasing” their audiences by giving them the content they want while prioritizing their creative freedoms. Though Siwa has faced immense backlash from this rebrand, this may be the first step for her to realize what kind of artist she wants to be and how she needs to approach this transition.
