JoJo Siwa reveals her grandmother okayed her onstage drinking as she opens up about infamous Pride ritual

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: JoJo Siwa, who has been in the spotlight for Pride Month concerts, recently responded to hecklers who booed her during a performance. She is also known for drinking onstage in front of her fans, a practice her grandmother accepts and encourages.

The star discussed her journey into drinking during performances and what motivated her to start the Pride performance ritual.

JoJo Siwa says her grandmother encouraged her onstage drinking

On the July 8 episode of her podcast, 'JoJo Siwa Now', the 21-year-old entertainer, Siwa shared the backstory of one of her favorite aspects of her Pride performances - drinking alcohol on stage. Siwa said, "This idea of doing this stemmed from, I was in rehearsals and we were starting a new routine [for] ‘Yesterday's Tomorrow's Today,’ and my 21st birthday had just passed.” 

Encouraged by her grandmother, she embraced the idea and integrated it into her shows, where it has since become a crowd-pleasing tradition. Siwa exclaimed, "I was like, ‘I wanna f***ing take a shot before this.’ And my grandma was like, ‘Alright, JoJo. You should do it.’ And I was like, alright. Let's do it!”

Jojo Siwa thanks fans for supporting her at Pride events

The 'Karma' singer described how her "shot o'clock" ritual at Pride events, including a memorable moment at Los Angeles Pride at the Park, has sparked enthusiastic reactions from audiences, who were initially surprised by her bold move to bring out a jug of Tito's vodka on stage.

"I bought out a jug of Tito's, and people were like, ‘Woah. What are you doing? Is it real? Is it fake?’” she recounted “And I was like, ‘B**h, it is what it f***ing is. It's a bottle of Tito's.’”

Siwa has just wrapped up a series of Pride Festival performances across major cities like LA, London, New York, Miami and Chicago, where she broke audience records in the latter two cities. Reflecting on her accomplishment, the Dance Moms alum took to Instagram, exclaiming, “Chicago Pride WHAT THE F**K!!!” and expressing gratitude for the overwhelming turnout and support, as per People.

“What a time to be alive. Yesterday was unreal. I found out I set the record for most people in attendance at Chicago Pride at 2 a f---ing clock in the afternoon… THAT IS NUTTY.” “You all really did that, showed up and had the best time with me,” the singer wrote.

She praised her fans for their enthusiasm, "I saw you all with your posters, ur F***IN KARMA MAKEUP YOU ICONS, some construction vests, some JOJO BOWS, f***ing epic. Best f***ing time I love you THANK YOU."

She then shared her excitement about her upcoming debut EP, Guilty Pleasure, and its title track set to release on July 12. Siwa hyped her new music with a tracklist reveal and a sneak peek from an upcoming music video, captioning her post with, “The countdown is ON.”

Jojo Siwa's onstage drinking sparks debate online

Having listened to Siwa's podcast, numerous fans took to Facebook to share their viewpoints.

One user mocked, "It’s probably water in the bottle and she’s just saying to look cool" The second user added, "her grandma should probably put the bottle down too. Next thing we will hear is she's in rehab"

The third user commented, "She needs to get help. Someone needs to give her support. People need to stop there kids from watching her or supporting her."

The fourth worried, "I really like her but I don't get this. This whole character of hers. I know she's expressing herself but sadly I don't think people are taking her so seriously." The last wrote, "This is cringy."

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