In JoJo’s upcoming memoir, Over the Influence, she details a 2000s TRL appearance in which she says she had an icy encounter with one of her idols. While she didn’t name names, online speculation blew up over one star in particular.
They say never meet your idols, and for JoJo, that old adage may ring true.
During an interview with SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio to promote her upcoming memoir, Over the Influence, the “Leave (Get Out)” singer was asked about a “cold” encounter with a former idol, which she details in the book.
Host Lamar Dawson describes the frosty meeting with another artist she was a fan of, which went down on MTV’s TRL back in the early aughts. Drawing some clues given in the chapter — JoJo appeared on TRL with this star, they also both have songs on the same movie soundtrack — Dawson asked JoJo whether the idol in question was Christina Aguilera.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
“Feeling the way this person made me feel taught me [that] I just never want to make anyone feel that way. And it made me feel like ‘Damn, you don’t want to meet your idols,'” JoJo, whose full name is Joanna Levesque, told Dawson — not confirming the mystery star’s identity.
“But then I had so many great experiences. Like, I talked about meeting Beyoncé in the book. And she’s just like truly the most … I think I described her as incandescent,” she continued. “She’s just unbelievable. So, there’s no hate in my heart towards this person nor is this a surprise, I suppose, with other stories we’ve heard.”
Following the interview, eagle-eyed fans took to the internet to dig up footage of JoJo and Aguilera on TRL and found the encounter between the pair, with one user taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share a clip from the 2004 episode.
TikTok / Getty
JoJo Sings Friends Theme Song in Honor of Matthew Perry, Brings Fans to Tears
View Story
“Christina Aguilera thanked Lala, Ludacris and Jojo – @xtina just met @iamjojo on TRL for this first time and told her it was nice to meet her. She was campaigning that week for the youth to vote and doing the rounds,” the user wrote.
The user added in a follow-up tweet, “In 2019 Jojo posted this to her Instagram story. She felt Christina Aguilera did not want to kiss her but the video from TRL shows their full encounter. Xtina was respectful to Jojo and even though she was. Jojo still felt awkward about that encounter from 2004.”
In 2019 Jojo posted this to her instagram story. She felt Christina Aguilera did not want to kiss her but the video from TRL shows their full encounter. Xtina was respectful to Jojo and even though she was. Jojo still felt awkward about that encounter from 2004. pic.twitter.com/QtkSoAP6K3
— HR (@herrevengexo) September 15, 2024
@herrevengexo
While JoJo didn’t mention Aguilera herself, fans of X-Tina were quick to point out JoJo’s love for the “Dirrty” singer over the years, in an apparent attempt to quell speculation she was talking about her — including JoJo’s history covering her songs, wearing Aguilera merch and supporting Christina at a party in 2021.
“And if it were Christina that she’s talking about then girl it’s messy,” commented someone else, after pointing out the history above — adding, “She needs to move on and mention it in her book.”
Others went on to say “we don’t know the full story” and defended the singer for writing about an experience she had when she was 14, with one fan tweeting, “We don’t know what happened behind the scenes. It clearly stuck with her, she’s allowed to have feelings.”
Aguilera has not spoken out about JoJo’s comments or her upcoming book, and JoJo has not elaborated on the matter.
Her memoir, Over the Influence, is out September 17.
