Gene Simmons is coming to JoJo Siwa's defense amid her controversial rebrand.
The KISS legend praised the former Dance Moms star's new look that she debuted at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday, which featured a bedazzled jumpsuit, a rocking faux hawk, and black eye makeup designs similar to his iconic KISS looks.
"JoJo is cool. Anybody who doesn't get it is just jealous, period," the 71-year-old rocker told TMZ. "Never be ordinary. Always be extraordinary. JoJo is extraordinary and she looks cool."
When asked if the costume was too similar to his gothic rock costumes, Simmons kept the energy positive.
"Of course she looks like me, but that's another story," he concluded.
Siwa's red carpet look made waves on social media earlier this week, shocking fans with the stark takeoff from her usual rainbow bows and colorful personality. Following the debut, several fans took to social media to share their takes.
"Crazy how there are people like Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus where you can see the way they dress and move themselves is very natural to them and then there's people like JoJo Siwa who just feel like they're playing dress up on Halloween," one user posted.
The outfit is taken directly from the music video for her new single, "Karma." The sudden shift in her personality is not completely original, with Siwa giving credit to Cyrus for the inspiration.
In 2013, the "Wrecking Ball" singer shocked the world when she ditched her Hannah Montana Disney Channel personality for an edgy new pop star era. Siwa says the album helped form her new creations.
"That is something that I definitely went for," Siwa said to Access Hollywood. "This is what I want. [Miley] is my No. 1 idol. I was like, 'I want to do what she did with Bangerz. I wanna have that moment. I mean look, I'm flattered that the world can even compare that. That's crazy to me."
Siwa also cites Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman era as a reference, looking back on Grande's shift from her Nickelodeon day's to a Playboy-inspired leather bombshell.
While Cyrus and Grande have not yet commented on the look, Siwa's Dance Moms instructor Abby Lee Miller is all over it.
"She loves it. She is having the time of her life," Siwa shared. "She has always been tough on me but she's always been really supportive of me."
Amid the comparisons, Siwa insists that she and her team never considered it a "rebrand" as they plotted on which direction she would take once she turned 18.
"It's really fun. I hear everyone online using the term 'rebrand.' I wish me and my team used that word because we genuinely never had. It really just is the art that I wanna make now. I feel like there was this turning point when I was 18 of like, what do I wanna do with the rest of my career? What do I wanna do for the rest of my life? I decided that, ultimately, I wanna make art that makes the world's head turn."
Siwa's new single, "Karma," drops on Friday, April 5.
