NEED TO KNOW
Dance Moms alum Holly Frazier has a message for critics of her daughter Nia Sioux’s new memoir.
On Monday, Nov. 3, Frazier, 55, posted a TikTok video supporting Sioux’s Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life, which was released on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
In the book, Sioux, 24, discusses her time on the hit Lifetime reality show, the alleged racism and mistreatment she experienced from her former dance teacher, Abby Lee Miller, and her relationship with the show and its cast now.
Frazier and Sioux starred on the show for seven seasons from 2011 to 2017. Sioux was just 9 years old when the first season aired and turned 15 during her last season.
In the video, Frazier hit back at critics who blamed her for allowing Sioux to be on the show for so long, even after facing multiple instances of alleged racism from Miller, 60.
“I am quiet because this is Nia’s moment to shine, but I see you,” Frazier says in the video. “Some of you are being manipulative by trying to deflect the issue onto me. The issue is not me … Do not invalidate [Nia’s] experience by trying to shift the blame on her mother. Shame on you. You should be embarrassed. That was an ignorant, low blow.”
The mom of three continued and says that the issues Sioux experienced on the show were from “someone who did not do their job.” “No one was hired to be evil or cruel,” she added.
The TikTok comes after Frazier’s fellow Dance Moms castmates, Christi Lukasiak and Kelly Hyland, said on Monday’s installment of their Back to the Barre podcast that they weren’t given a heads-up about the book or its contents.
“She talks about all of us and our kids, and I just feel like … a phone call would have been nice, saying ‘My daughter is going to talk about everybody in the book,’ ” Hyland said during the podcast, adding, “Meanwhile, my kids weren’t even there for 90% of it, what she’s talking about in the book. But we’re lumped in all of that.”
Lifetime
In her TikTok video, Frazier said that she and Sioux “don’t owe anyone anything,” nor do they have to ask for permission.
“So many people have been touched by [Nia’s] experience that she wanted to share [it] because she knows other people identify and relate and she’s not alone.”
“What we’re not going to do is manipulate the truth and the narrative to fit your own agenda because you don’t want to hold certain people accountable … We’re not going to take advantage and do my kid wrong.”
Frazier went on to thank supporters, and claimed most critics “have not even read the book.”
“Instead of talking about my kid, instead of talking about a book you haven’t read, why don’t you support her?,” Frazier said in the video.
She captioned her video in part: “I am disengaging from anyone who has the wrong opinion.”
Also in the podcast, Hyland questioned why Frazier didn’t take Sioux off the show if Miller was treating her so badly.
In her book, Sioux detailed the alleged racism she faced from Miller, including her asking if Sioux ever wished she had “White girl hair” and being given solos that had racial undertones to them. She also detailed how Miller allegedly offered former Danity Kane member, Aubrey O’Day $10,000 not to work with Sioux on her music career in season 5.
Miller and O’Day did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Harper Horizon
Sioux wrote that while her parents tried several times to take her off the show, they weren’t able to because of their contract. She added that Frazier had to “bite her tongue” a few times and not confront Miller because Sioux wanted to prove to her dance teacher that she could do whatever was given to her.
In May, Sioux spoke exclusively to PEOPLE to announce her memoir and said that being the only Black dancer for a majority of the show had a “lasting effects” on her. She added that she still hasn’t opened up to her castmates about the reality of her experience on the show.
“That is something that is part of my story and my journey. A lot of girls of color have been through these sorts of experiences,” she said. “It’s important to share diverse stories and stories from people of color, especially when it comes to talking about racism and being the token Black girl.”
Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life is now available to purchase wherever books are sold.
