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Jojo Siwa’s mom, Jessalyn, is speaking out after some upsetting things happened on Big Brother UK, involving actor Mickey Rourke. The controversy started after Rourke allegedly made homophobic remarks toward Jojo during the show, which quickly made headlines. Now, Jessalyn is weighing in through a heartfelt post on Instagram.
In her post, Jessalyn said she wasn’t exactly shocked that Rourke didn’t get sent home after what happened. “I’m not surprised,” she wrote, saying she kind of expected he’d be allowed to stay on the show despite his behavior.
What really hit home for her, though, was how hurt she felt as a mom. “I’m sad,” Jessalyn said, explaining how hard it was knowing she had sent her daughter to a whole different country to take part in a TV show, only for Jojo to be treated poorly almost immediately. “Right out of the gate,” she said. “She’s my kid, and no parent wants that for their child.”
Still, Jessalyn was incredibly proud of how Jojo handled the situation. She said Jojo carried herself with confidence and grace, and a lot of people had reached out to say she did an amazing job standing up for herself. Even though that doesn’t make what happened okay, Jessalyn said she felt grateful Jojo was strong enough to deal with it — and that she’s doing okay now.
She’s been watching Jojo on the show through the live feeds and thinks her daughter looks great and is just being her usual self. Jessalyn pointed out something deeper too — that it’s become almost trendy or popular to hate on Jojo. “It’s kind of become a game,” she said, referring to people making fun of her daughter or trying to bring her down. And she was especially upset by Rourke reportedly telling Jojo she’d stop being gay if she stayed in the Big Brother house for more than a few days. Jessalyn asked why people couldn’t just accept Jojo for who she is — plain and simple.
She also addressed fans who said they liked this “version” of Jojo on the show. Jessalyn pushed back, saying, “This is how she always is — people just didn’t see it before.”
For those unfamiliar with the incident, it all started when Mickey Rourke told Jojo that if she made it past four days in the house, she wouldn’t be queer anymore. Jojo clapped back in the best way, saying she’d definitely still be gay — and happily in a relationship with her girlfriend, Kath Ebbs. Later, Rourke reportedly used a homophobic slur in a conversation with another contestant, though he denied using it specifically about Jojo.