Viral internet sensation and teen pop star Jojo Siwa is trending on Twitter today after news broke that she wasn't invited to the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, which took place on Saturday night.

This is strange, for one thing, because the artist was nominated for the Best Social Media Star award at the awards show - had she won, she would not have been present to accept. It's also strange because Siwa is actually associated with the Nickelodeon brand - they produced her D.R.E.A.M. tour, and her new musical, the J Team, is premiering on Paramount+, which is owned by the same parent company as Nickelodeon.

It was not lost on Siwa's young fans that she wasn't present at the awards show. When pressed, she posted this video on Instagram:

"I wasn't invited...I'm not sure why, but I just didn't get an invite."

Stars and reglar fans alike reacted with sympathy and incredulity in the comments. Olivia Rodrigo lent her support, saying, "Their loss sweetness," and actor Mollee Gray said "probably cuz you are the color of the rainbow and they're just orange."

Gray isn't the only one who seems to think that Siwa's lack of an invite had something to do with her status as an out Pansexual woman - one who just got a notably "gay" haircut and has been flaunting her rainbow status on her social accounts more often since coming out last year.

There is no direct evidence that network-wide homophobia is the reason Siwa wasn't invited - it could also have been due to COVID measures limiting the ceremony, much like Rachel Zegler wasn't invited to the Oscars. - but a large portion of Siwa's fans - as well as pearl-clutchingly conservative mothers - seem to think that is indeed the reason.

Nickelodeon has not yet commented on this matter.

Tags
JoJo Siwa, Rachel Zegler, Olivia rodrigo