The 31-year-old singer refuses to call his 20-year-old sibling using the term in the wake of their 'lengthy conversations' in which he learns that the name 'was hurtful' to the younger one.
- Apr 23, 2021
AceShowbiz - Joe Jonas has apparently offered an apology to Frankie Jonas for the term he use to describe his little brother. Having had a little heart-to-heart conversation with the youngest Jonas, the "Camp Rock" star recently admitted that he won't call his brother "bonus Jonas again" upon learning that the term "was hurtful to him."
"I refused to call Frankie 'Bonus Jonas' after he opened up to me about how that was hurtful to him," Joe confessed in an interview with Bustle. "It completely makes sense, and we've had lengthy conversations and apologies behind closed doors that showcased my understanding and respect for his wishes."
Getting deeper into the matter, the singer husband of actress Sophie Turner went on to explain his perspective. "I think to feel like you are second, third, or fourth best from something is unfair," he stated. "We are all equals."
Being called "Bonus Jonas" was not the only hurtful things Frankie had to endure over the years. He opened up about the first time he downloaded Twitter when he was 12 and searched for his own name. "It was all pretty awful things for a 12-year-old to read," he recalled.
"A lot of it was like, 'If you ever feel forgotten, remember this guy.' Or, 'Frankie Jonas is a talentless sack of s**t,' " the 20-year-old recalled. He continued admitting, "It became a form of self-harm to look at these things."
Frankie went on to spill how that evolved into more complex issues. "Then it became essentially an OCD, like a tic. I couldn't stop. I checked it every day, and I had to, to feel OK in a way. It really became a serious issue for me," he shared.
"A lot of that perpetuated the idea that I was just this meme," he further elaborated. "I was this joke, and my entire identity to people was 'adjacent,' which really affected myself and the way that I thought about the world and the way I felt about myself."
During the interview, Frankie also talked about his TikTok account in which he shared some of his life struggles. "Everything that I talk about on TikTok… no one knew that that was how I speak, how I express myself, what I think is funny," he said.
"I was just making jokes, thinking no one was hearing them. And then people heard them and liked them. I thought, 'I'm going to continue to do this,' because I've never had my thing really. This feels like so much of my thing," he added. "It feels so empowering to have a thing."
Frankie's brother Joe proved to be supportive. "I just want him to be happy," the one-third of the Jonas Brothers said. "If that means he wants to be TikTok famous, great; if that means he wants to be an author, great; if that means he wants to be a scientist, great! He could pretty much do anything he puts his heart and mind to, and he's done that already. I'm just so proud of the man he's become."
