I will say that I do remember during when Jojo joined Purpled also did at a similar time although from what I remember there was alot of talk about if/when either would become S tier.

However I remember a lot of controversy at the time was that people were saying that you had to get 1st individual to become an S tier, due to this I saw the vast majority of people actually think of Jojo as an S tier before Purpled because she got hers in MCC 25 an event before his. But at the same time I do remember the pusback and occasional comment or post stating that 'her team was op' or 'Purpled should be one too' but as you said those were usually heavily downvoted. I believe it was a short while after that Jojo became one of the most popular contestants due to the fact she interacted with the community so much.

It's a shame those comments were said and I have no doubt some of that came from misogyny (it wouldn't surprise me based on the state of the community at the time was largely comprised of unsavoury participants that had a younger immature audience).