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After 'Dance Moms' alums Christi Lukasiak and Kelly Hyland publicly criticized Nia Sioux's new memoir, arguing they should've been given a "heads-up," Nia's mother, Holly Frazier, took to TikTok and fired back, saying, "Shame on you. You should be embarrassed."
Dance Moms alum Holly Frazier has released a fiery response after her former costars, Christi Lukasiak and Kelly Hyland, publicly criticized Frazier's daughter, Nia Sioux, and her new memoir, Bottom of the Pyramid.
The controversy ignited after Lukasiak, 48, and Hyland, 54, discussed the book, which details Sioux’s experiences of alleged racism and mistreatment from dance teacher Abby Lee Miller, on a recent episode of their Back to the Barre podcast. During the segment, the mothers expressed frustration that they weren't given a “heads-up” about the book’s 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 stated during the podcast. "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."
Hyland also questioned why Frazier didn't simply remove her daughter from the show if she was being treated so poorly.
Frazier, 55, who appeared alongside Sioux, 24, for seven seasons of the Lifetime reality show, took to TikTok on Monday, November 3 to defend her daughter, delivering a powerful rebuke to the criticism. She did not name Lukasiak or Hyland by name, though addressed many of their talking points.
“I am quiet because this is Nia's moment to shine, but I see you,” Frazier began in her video. She then accused the critics of being “manipulative” for attempting to redirect the issue and shift blame onto her.
“Some of you are being manipulative by trying to deflect the issue onto me. The issue is not me,” Frazier asserted. “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.”
Frazier went on to firmly state that neither she nor her daughter owe anyone an advanced warning or permission to share their truth. “We don't owe anyone anything,” she said, adding that Nia’s experience is important to share because so many others “identify and relate” to it.
“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,” she added. “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 also addressed the critics who questioned why she kept Nia on the show for so long, arguing that the negative experiences stemmed from “someone who did not do their job,” while adding, “No one was hired to be evil or cruel.”
She concluded her message by urging people to support her daughter instead of tearing her down, claiming that 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.
Bottom of the Pyramid: A Memoir of Persevering, Dancing for Myself, and Starring in My Own Life, which recounts Nia Sioux's toxic experiences on the set of Dance Moms, is available now.
