Rebecca Black has spoken about the years of online abuse she endured after her song 'Friday' became a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons. The singer, now 20, was just 13 when the music video was posted on YouTube and rapidly attracted worldwide attention.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 live, Black admitted she read the thousands of negative comments left by internet trolls. "I saw everything. When I started reading those negative comments I just couldn't stop - I just kept going and going and going," she said. She added that commenters "don't think a real person has to read this and move on with their day."
Black revealed she had not seen the video before it went live on YouTube. "We thought, 'it's not like this is going to go anywhere'," she said. The video racked up millions of views, but the reception was largely hostile, with hundreds of thousands of abusive comments, including a death threat that was investigated by police.
Describing the experience, Black said: "I felt like I had the biggest 'kick me' sign on my back and everyone was just lining up before they'd even looked at me." She said she felt she had to "breathe it all in, suck it up and be good", adding that it left her feeling "with bones, you're left with nothing."
She explained that only after processing the abuse did she feel able to resume her career. "You can make anything happen once you get back to a little sliver of strength," she said. Speaking about her new single, 'Satellite', she said she was "100,000% proud to put my name on it" and that it felt authentic to her.
