![JoJo Siwa criticizes online criticism of the first song by 10-year-old Everleigh LaBrant: 'Bullying is not cool'](https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/JoJo-Siwa-Slams-Online-Criticism-of-10-Year-Old-Everleigh-LaBrants-1st-Song.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all)
JoJo Siwa and Everleigh LaBrant.
Tony DiMaio/MEGAYouTube stars Cole And Savannah LaBrant released their daughter Everleigh’s first song earlier this month, sparking a backlash among social media users almost overnight.
Cole, 27, and Savannah, 30, premiered their 10-year-old’s music debut on September 4 — a pop song called “Like Taylor Swift.” Immediately, listeners criticized the song via TikTok for its overuse of autotune and mere mention of Taylor Swift‘s hits.
“My hair is blowing in the wind / Taylor Swift on the radio all weekend,” Everleigh, who performs under the name “Everleigh Rose,” sang in one verse. “Sweet tea, sweet sixteen, on my trampoline / All summer long I’m playing my favorite song. …Every day I just want to do this / And do it like Taylor Swift.
In the first chorus, Everleigh sang that she wanted to do it like several of Swift’s songs, including “Love Story,” “Bad Blood,” “Dear John,” “Look What You Made Me Do” and “You Belong With.” Me.”
Several TikTok users even compared the track to Rebecca Black‘s viral “Friday” video from 2011.
JoJo Siwa, who has appeared in several of the LaBrants’ previous YouTube videos, clapped back in Everleigh’s defense.
“Saying all this with love. As the now twenty-year-old who was once the ten-year-old who grew up with the Internet, I want to say to anyone who has said negative things about this song or about Everleigh herself: lose your ego and grow up. Siwa, who grew up Dance mothers before becoming a pop star, wrote via TikTok. “First off, this song is cute (and insanely catchy). And second, bullying is not cool, it’s not funny, and it’s never trendy… especially when it’s directed at a 10-year-old and her first song by people much older than her. Some even adults.”
JoJo Siwa
Siwa further slammed the critics, noting that they “should be ashamed” for publicly bashing the video.
“I can also say without a doubt that Everleigh is one of the nicest and hardest working kids I have ever had [the] joy to be around and she definitely deserves all the love and success she has.
In her TikTok video, Siwa rocked out in her car to “Like Taylor Swift” and couldn’t help but sing along. “To everyone who has said something negative about this song… you need to calm down,” the “Kid in a Candy Store” singer wrote in a caption.
Neither Everleigh nor her family have addressed the musical response.
Cole and Savannah — who married in 2017 — share four children: Everleigh, Posie, 4, Zeeland, 3, and Sunday, 14 months. (Savannah welcomed Everleigh with a former partner; Cole is her stepfather.)