Everything this author has learned about JoJo Siwa in 2024 so far has been against their will. She is not, in fact, the creator of "gay pop," but is a former Dance Moms star who is now leveraging music as one facet of their ongoing brand-building exercise — who may also be a fan of Tool.
Siwa made her major label debut last week (July 12) with an EP Guilty Pleasure, and ahead of its release, shared some mock-ups on TikTok of release-related merch designs. Among them are a T-shirt and construction vest featuring a graphic clearly inspired by the phallic wrench image covering Tool's 1991 demo cassette 72826, which has since appeared on clothing items of their own.
Save for some subtly-tweaked elements of design — like changing "TOOL" to "JOJO" and adjusting the shape of the heads at either end — it looks very similar, but in a year that has already seen Iron Maiden sue over Eddie's likeness, there is no wrench-related legal action to report at this time.
Siwa's TikTok featuring the mockups has since been pulled from her profile, but not after bring mercilessly mocked by viewers online. How familiar is she with Tool? Her "Karma" costume, said to be KISS-inspired, looks not unlike that of Maynard James Keenan if you squint hard enough.