Jojo/Twitter
Jojo, the popular 2000s singer and musician, recently revealed how much trauma she went through as a teenage pop star. During her meteoric rise, Jojo says her label put her on a dangerous diet that affected her for years…
A 500 Calorie-A-Day Diet
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You may remember Jojo as one of the youngest solo artists ever to reach number one. In 2004, her hit "Leave (Get Out)" made it to number one. The song hit the top of the charts when Jojo was just 13. However, instead of supporting her, Jojo claims her record label, Blackground, said she could not release any new music until she lost some weight. So, they put her on a 500 calorie-a-day diet. Now 29-years-old, the singer said the record company tricked her into thinking it was for a good cause. "When I was 18, I remember being sat down in the Blackground office, and the president of the label being like, 'We just want you to look as healthy as possible'," Jojo explained.
Sadly, from there, things went from bad to worse. Not only did the record company put her on an unsustainable diet, but they also added injections that made Jojo lose her appetite. Meanwhile, the singer treated it like a challenge, as she was too young to know any better. "I was like, 'Let me see how skinny I can get, because maybe then they'll put out an album. Maybe I'm just so disgusting that no one wants to see me in a video and they can't even look at me'," Jojo recalled. "That's really what I thought." Of course, it wasn't long before the singer spiraled out of control…
Jojo Breaks Free
Jojo/Twitter
Soon, Jojo found herself drowning in her insecurities, which the insane diet only fueled. "I felt that how I was must have been not enough," she said. "Must have been dissatisfying." In time, the singer turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with the pain she felt in her body. "There were definitely nights that I stumbled out of clubs and that I blacked out," she said. "I needed to be buzzed to feel okay, I would go to the edge, stand on my tiptoes on the edge, and then come back. I should be dead."
In the end, thankfully, Jojo's friends, family, and even the singer herself realized she could not keep her lifestyle up. The only that truly broke the spell, though, was leaving Blackground behind, breaking her contract in the process. "I didn't get any damages or anything like that, I just walked away being able to sign another record contract. I was like, 'Let's go,' I was free," Jojo said.
Now, the singer wants to make sure this does not happen to anyone else. Jojo knows that she's not the only young female pop star to have to go through this. However, she hopes that by sharing her story, it will never happen again.
Sources: The Chef Pick, Insider
