JoJo Say She’s ‘Not Sober’ But Has ‘Practicies’ in Place to ‘Check’ Herself

Transcript

00:00How does it feel that it's been, you know, a few months since the book was released?

00:04Has life changed for you at all? Do you feel lighter since you kind of got your story out there?

00:09I do feel lighter because I was just so afraid of like, what is my mom going to think of me

00:13sharing some of these stories that are not, that don't paint either of us in the most

00:19glamorous light, but she's so, she's so strong in who she is right now and I feel very strong in

00:26who I am and I also didn't want to be misunderstood if I talk about other artists and their stories

00:32and I don't name all names but do name some names and people, you know, so I was nervous about that

00:37stuff. I was nervous about talking about me being toxic in relationships and how that would be

00:45perceived but it has changed my life and I feel like even just going through the act of writing

00:52it was a great exercise for me and then it being so well received and continuing to

01:00have a life of its own is one of the things that I'm most proud of doing actually in my career.

01:07How does your mom feel about it now?

01:09My mom is really proud of me and I did not, that was not guaranteed, so it just speaks to the growth

01:15that she has had and where we're at in our relationship and she's about to be celebrating

01:2110 years of sobriety and that really is like the biggest accomplishment I think and, you know,

01:27she goes around telling everybody that her daughter's a New York Times bestseller, like I

01:30think that's something she's the most proud of.

01:32Yeah, she should be, that's amazing, that really is fantastic and I feel like she has done such,

01:37because you see the pitfalls of young stars, you know, they come and go and have their troubles

01:42along the way, but I feel like your family has done so much to help you stay grounded throughout

01:46that time.

01:47Yeah, I would be, I don't know who I'd be if it weren't for my family and my friends who have

01:52become like family, but I definitely had my ups and downs, that's very much in the book and the

02:00title is Over the Influence, so it's about how I thought I would never be like my parents who I

02:04judged at a certain point pretty harshly for struggling with their own addictions and then

02:08I found myself being like, oh, just because it doesn't show up like this, I am acting like

02:13an addict in this way, like I'm just like doing things that are impacting my life and the lives

02:20of others and, you know, I had to be like, I had to check myself many times.

02:24Sure, do you feel like you still sometimes have to check yourself?

02:26Yeah, constantly, I think that that's just a tendency, there are

02:33tendencies that I have where I need to really be aware, so that's why having different like

02:40practices in place or I'm not like, I'm not sober, but like periods of I'm doing dry January

02:50or I don't drink while I'm on tour or I, you know, or I just don't, I don't like to overindulge in

02:55general and I'm grateful for that because I've been on the other side of like liking to be out

03:01of my mind, I don't desire to be out of my mind anymore.

03:04Yeah, that's good, it's good that you figured out the balance that you can, that works for you.

03:08I'm learning one day at a time.