JoJo Siwa Defends Influencer Everleigh LaBrant After “Like Taylor Swift” Song Controversy

Everleigh Rose is in her fearless era.

The 10-year-old influencer—who stars in mom Savannah LaBrant and stepdad Cole LaBrant's social media content—debuted her first song "Like Taylor Swift" and an accompanying music video on Sept. 4. But the song—inspired by her love of Taylor Swift—quickly sparked debate, with none other than JoJo Siwa stepping in to defend Everleigh.

In "Like Taylor Swift," Everleigh sings about moving to Tennessee to find out who she is, making her parents proud and, of course, listening to the radio with her hair undone in the backseat of a car.

"Mу hair іs blоwing through thе wind / Taylor Swift on the radio all weekend," she sings in the chorus. "Ѕwеet teа, sixteen, on my trampоlіnе, yeah."

But in the bridge, the young dancer name-drops a bunch of Taylor Swift song titles—a portion that's gone viral on TikTok.

"Every single dау all I wanna do iѕ this / And dо іt like Taylor Swift / Like a love story / Like а dеar Јohn / Like a bad bloоd / Аnd kind of like our song," Everleigh belts out. "Like I knew you were trоuble / You bеlong with me / Are you ready for it? / Are уоu 22? / Mаdе you shake it off / Or look at what yоu made me do / Nevеr grow up / Never fіnd а lover / Sparkѕ fly, fifteеn / Can I get a cruel summer?"

Many fans praised her creativity—calling the track "so catchy"—and were happy to see their own childhood dreams become her reality.

"This is canon," one fan wrote. "If you don't grow up making your own song and music video you didn't actually grow up."

But not everyone was enchanted: It was also dubbed the "Friday" of this generation, drawing comparisons to Rebecca Black's 2011 debut that was endlessly mocked. (Rebecca has said that backlash over her song made her feel depressed and ashamed for years.)

Furthermore, social media users were confused by Everleigh's lyrics, with one person writing, "like what does she mean ‘like a dear john,'" while some thought songs like "Cruel Summer" and "Dear John" were too mature for a 10-year-old to be referencing.

Still others questioned who really wrote the track and accused her parents of being the masterminds. Cole, 27, said in a TikTok video that Everleigh wrote the lyrics, but the official music video—which has 1.1 million views on YouTube as of Sept. 11—says it was written by "LaBrant Fam."

Ultimately, JoJo entered the chat to tell haters they need to calm down.

"Saying all of this with love," JoJo wrote in a Sept. 8 TikTok. "As the now 20 year old who once was the 10 year old growing up infront of the internet, I wanna say to anyone thats been saying negative things about this song or everleigh herself, lose your ego and grow up."

The former child star continued, "First, this song is adorable (and insanely catchy). And second… Bullying isnt cool, it's not funny, and it's not trendy, ever… especially when it's directed at a 10 year old and her first song by people much older than her. Some even adults. If you've posted something knocking this, you should be embarrassed."

JoJo—who previously appeared in LaBrant family videos and posed on the red carpet with Everleigh at the Industry Dance Awards last year—went on to praise her as "one of the kindest and hardest working kids i've ever had to joy of getting to be around," adding, "She absolutely deserves all the love an success she has."

Fans agreed with the Dance Moms alum in the comments section. "THIS EXACTLY," one person wrote. "Making fun of a child for just having fun is insane in a world telling kids that they're growing up too fast. No one can win."

And of course, Everleigh's biggest supporters appear to be her parents, who have 52 million TikTok followers and 12 million Instagram followers between them. As Cole wrote in one video, "when your 10 yr old daughter writes the best song you've ever heard."