Jojo Siwa, most well known for her appearances on Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition and Dance Moms, has recently found her way into controversy relating to her pop girl group, XOMG POP! In an article released by Rolling Stone, Jojo and her mother Jessalyn were accused of creating a hostile work environment for their young employees. The accusations involving them also include allegedly unpaid work, missed school, berating the girls, and risking the physical health of the performers.
Who is XOMG POP!?
XOMG POP! was a group assembled as part of the Peacock series Siwa’s Dance Pop Revolution, released in 2021. The Emmy-nominated series followed Jojo and her mother Jessalynn as they took 11 young girls, and (throughout an eight-episode run) narrowed the group down to six members, with the seventh performer added shortly after. The original seven group members, Kiya Barczyszyn, Brooklynn Pitts, Leigha Sanderson, Dallas Skye, Tamara “Tinie T” Andreasyan, Kinley Cunningham, and Bella Cianni were all between the ages of eight and 14 when they started. The group was meant to rival other music groups targeting young audiences like Kidz Bop but share the sparkly bows and high energy that attracted so many people to Siwa.
XOMG POP! was gaining popularity on social media, with their TikTok account reaching 3.3 million followers and their YouTube videos getting hundreds of thousands of views. The girls were featured in videos posted by the group: dances, singing challenges, podcasts, and promotional material. To many viewers, it looked like the next up-and-coming tween girl group had hit the stage. The XOMG POP! girls were scheduled for live performances, a tour, and even a Royal Caribbean cruise performance. They made an appearance on America’s Got Talent and began releasing their own original songs. They sang songs about friendship, self-confidence, and dancing.
Within two years, four members left the group without explanation. This caused an increase in questioning about XOMG POP! and why the group seemed to be bleeding members just as they were taking off.
Former group member, Leigha Sanderson, now 16 years old, allegedly never signed an NDA after her exit from the group. After months of teasing an explanation of what happened with the Siwas on her TikTok account, she announced the release of a Rolling Stone article explaining everything that happened, and why she left the group. Or, as the article tells the story, how she was abruptly fired.
The article references an unpleasant work environment, group members’ families severely struggling financially as a result of their daughters being in the group, missed school, and alleged psychological abuse coming directly from the Siwas. In the article and a live video on Leigha Sanderson’s Instagram, the XOMG POP! Mall of America performance is discussed, most specifically Jojo berating the girls on their performance quality through their headsets, mid-performance. Rolling Stone quotes the “Hold The Drama” singer saying, “You’re sucking, bring it up, the energy is low, you look sloppy, this isn’t good enough.” There was no response from the Siwas’ team concerning this accusation.
Leigha has spina bifida and was born with a tumor on her spine, which has caused her to undergo many surgeries throughout her life. One of these surgeries happened to take place around the time of a shoot for an XOMG POP! music video. The article claims that people close to the production of the Siwa’s Dance Pop Revolution series, as well as the Sandersons, stated that allegedly, “[Leigha] Sanderson was forced to work under intense physical duress, with Jessalynn encouraging her to attend a video shoot just a few weeks after she underwent spinal cord surgery.” The article also reportedly references times when Leigha was bleeding through her belly button and expected to continue in rehearsals without getting blood on her costume. This event, after long-term tension and arguments between Sanderson’s mother and Jessalyn Siwa, caused Leigha to be fired over text.
There has been minimal response from Team Siwa other than a response from their lawyer saying that these claims were false, also in the Rolling Stone article. It is unclear if there will ever be an explanation from the Siwas, or if this story will be left unaddressed by XOMG POP! As of now, it appears that Jojo, as she said in her song “Boomerang,” “won’t let the haters get their way,” even with this story coming to light.