JoJo Siwa Responds to Controversy Over Kids Board Game With ‘Inappropriate Content’

JoJo Siwa apologized to fans after a board game with her likeness included inappropriate questions for its young audience. The 17-year-old singer and former Dance Moms star said she was not aware that the game included questions like “Have you ever been arrested?” and “Have you ever walked in on someone naked or had someone walk in on you?” Siwa said she was “really, really, really upset” when she finally learned about the game and asked Nickelodeon to pull it from shelves.

Siwa learned about the game over the weekend from fans on TikTok, she said. “Now when companies make these games, they don’t run every aspect by me, so I had no idea of the types of questions that were on these playing cards,” Siwa explained in a video she shared on TikTok and Instagram. After seeing the “gross” questions, Siwa brought it to “Nickelodeon’s attention immediately” and asked them to stop making the game or selling it, reports PEOPLE.

“I hope you all know that I would’ve never ever ever approved or agreed to be associated with this game if I would’ve seen these cards before they started selling it,” Siwa said. She also thanked her fans for “bringing this to my attention, so that way I could put a stop to it and I could get it fixed immediately.” in the end, she told her fans she loves them all “so much, and I hope you have an awesome 2021.”

On Friday, Facebook user Heather Watson shared photos from the Nickelodeon-branded game, called JoJo’s Juice, with a smiling Siwa on the box. Although it says the target audience is children 6 years or older, some of the questions were surprisingly inappropriate. They included “Have you ever stolen from a store?” and “Have you been arrested?” One question asked players if there was anyone in the room they would like to date. If there was, the player had to sing a part of Siwa’s hit song “Boomerang.” Watson also showed the cards on her TikTok page to prove she did not Photoshop them. After Siwa posted her apology, Watson thanked the YouTube star for her response. “Thank you sooo much for taking care of this! My daughter loves you!! You made her day,” Watson wrote.

Nickelodeon and Spin Master, which made the game, confirmed it will no longer be sold. “We respect and value the relationship JoJo Siwa has with her fans and take the concerns raised regarding the game ‘JoJo’s Juice’ very seriously,” the companies said in a joint statement to Insider. “This game is no longer being manufactured and we have requested that retailers pull any remaining product from their shelves.”