14-year-old Rebecca Black became a YouTube sensation for her hit song “Friday.” Since its release on YouTube this past March, Black’s video had an estimated 20 million viewers before her label requested it be removed from the site a few months later.
Unfortunately for Black, “Friday” is nearly as popular as it is infamous. At just 14-years-old the singer has had to endure quite a bit of scrutiny. Her song, which repetitively mentions the day of the week, tells about Rebecca’s typical Friday; eat cereal, get a ride to school, attend school and anticipate the weekend.
Not only was Black exposed to cyber bullies for her single, but the young singer also received online death threats. The threats eventually got so violent that the FBI had to get involved.
Things went from bad to worse, however, as the bullying moved from the internet to the classroom. Black told ABC News of her classmates, ‘When I walk by they’ll start singing ‘Friday’ in a really nasally voice … Or, you know, they’ll be like, ‘Oh hey, Rebecca, guess what day it is?’” As a result, her mother decided to homeschool her.
Rebecca seems to be taking it all pretty well. As she told ABC, “I’ve learned that you just can’t let it get to you.” The singer released her second single, “My Moment,” a few weeks ago, and it already has 22 million hits on YouTube.
