JoJo Siwa clarified her comments over the word “lesbian”, by which she compared “lesbian” to “moist,” after receiving backlash from Twitter and TikTok users.

In a video response to TikTok user @that_akward_mango, who claimed that Siwa called “lesbian” a dirty word, Siwa responded, “I never said that lesbian was a dirty word and I never, ever would say that it’s a dirty word because it is not. It is not a bad word, it is not a slur, and it is especially not a word that I am ashamed of saying or ashamed of identifying as by any means.”

The 19-year-old Dance Moms star added that she simply didn’t like “the sound” of the word “lesbian.” “I don’t hate the word lesbian, I just – whenever somebody talks to me about my sexuality, I just say that I’m gay. It’s not the word that flows off the tongue for me if that makes sense.”

In the interview with Yahoo Life last week, Siwa talked about her attitude of being called a “lesbian.”  “I don’t like the word itself. It’s just like a lot. But I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what I am…” Siwa said, “It’s like the word moist. It’s just like … ugh!”

Once the interview was released, Siwa’s remarks were strongly criticized across Twitter and TikTok. Social media users, tweeting in support of the word, pointed out that Siwa didn’t realize the undesirable consequences her claims may cause on her millions of underage fans.

jojo siwa telling the millions of underage girls who look up to her that she feels disgusted by the word “lesbian” is really annoying

— may (@femfrau) July 28, 2022

first girl in red now jojo siwa, lesbian is not a dirty word and the stigma needs to be unlearned BADLY https://t.co/yjojZYwOus

— BB / Ozymandias ⚢ | HE/FAE | (@butchryouma) July 25, 2022

Siwa, who officially came out in an Instagram live video last year, has been labeled as a “gay icon” and as a role model for queer youth.