Rebecca Black on the Emotional Advice She Would Give Her 'Friday'-Singing 13-Year-Old Self
Nearly a decade after Rebecca Black released her song “Friday,” she is opening up about what she’d tell her teenage self.
“9 years ago today a music video for a song called ‘friday’ was uploaded to the internet,” Black, now 22, wrote in a message on Twitter. “Above all things, I just wish I could go back and talk to my 13-year-old self who was terribly ashamed of herself and afraid of the world. To my 15-year-old self who felt like she had nobody to talk to about the depression she faced. To my 17-year-old self who would get to school only to get food thrown at her and her friends.”
“To my 19-year-old self who had almost every producer/songwriter tell me that they’d never work with me,” she continued. “Hell, to myself a few days ago who felt disgusting when she looked in the mirror!”
“I’m trying to remind myself more and more that every day is a new opportunity to shift your reality and lift your spirit,” she went on. “You are not defined by any one choice or thing. Time heals and nothing is finite. It’s a process that’s never too late to begin.”
RELATED: Rebecca Black Says She Received Death Threats at Age 13 Over Her Song ‘Friday’
“And so, here we go! This might be a weird thing to post but the honesty feels good if nothing else,” she concluded.
In another tweet, she retweeted a GIF from the music video, writing, “9 YEARS. what a trip.”
Black’s comments Monday come about three years after she opened up about the “onslaught of negative attention” that came with the viral video, saying that the abuse included death threats.
— Rebecca Black (@MsRebeccaBlack) February 11, 2020
“One minute, I was a normal girl and then, in the next, millions of people know who I was and they were ruthless in hurling the most vile words my way,” she wrote in an essay for NBC News’ Think in October 2017.
“People were writing things all over the internet, on social media and they were laughing at me on TV shows, and making fun of me in YouTube videos,” she explained, adding that while the video led to some red carpet appearances and guest spots on late night TV, the bullying she experienced was so intense that she she left her Anaheim Hills, California school to be homeschooled by her mother.
“In my life, there were people I personally knew at school and in my inner circle who verbally abused me,” she said. “But then there were also complete strangers from all around the world using social media to deride me, degrade me and even worse; some people threatened my life.”
But the negative attention hasn’t stopped Black from pursuing music.
The singer auditioned on The Four in 2018, performing *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” and going up against another contestant with Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” before being sent home.
In October 2019, she released her latest single, titled “Sweetheart.” Black also regularly posts to her YouTube channel.
