DOCUMENT: Internet, Crime

Rebecca Black "Friday" Threats Probed

Cops handling two cases prompted by viral video hit

Rebecca Black

APRIL 15--Police are investigating two separate criminal threats triggered by Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” the viral music video hit that has spawned nationwide contempt, The Smoking Gun has learned.

The Anaheim Police Department is probing “two active cases” that originated in Los Angeles, according to Sergeant Rick Martinez, a police spokesman.

While cases like this are usually handled in the jurisdiction in which the threats were received, Martinez said that since cops believe the threats were “directed towards Rebecca Black,” the matters are being handled by Anaheim detectives.

Black, 13, lives with her parents in Anaheim, an Orange County city about 25 miles from Los Angeles.

One threat was sent by e-mail to a production company and the other “was a telephonic threat relayed to her manager,” according to Martinez, who added that he thought one of the communications contained a death threat.

Martinez said that Anaheim cops are taking the threats seriously and “are actively investigating these cases and if we find out who sent them, we will ask for prosecution.”

While Black’s song has been derided as the worst performance ever committed to tape, the “Friday” video has, at press time, been viewed 103.5 million times on the official YouTube page of the Ark Music Factory, the production outfit responsible for penning the tune and producing the video.

Comments (25)

I give my sympathy to Rebecca Black. She don't deserve to be treated as trash just because of her song and music video Friday. I hope the newest internet sensation who apparently is following the path of Rebecca may not experience this bad thing. Tonje Langeteig (also known as Helen Lang Teig) has taken the auto-tune train to fame with “I Don't Wanna be a Crappy Housewife”. The video is a YouTube star a la “Friday,” and despite the confessions to parody, critics still find it to be extremely painful to sit through. It may cost you a lot in personal loans to turn out to be famous if you're thinking this is your path also.
This song will be stuck in my noggin for a few days for sure....It's a cute song, but her voice would have applyed better to another song, just not this one. Keep on it, Rebecca!
After watching this video, I agree, killing her for it is a bit harsh. However, she certainly deserves some sort of severe corporal punishment. Canning or at the very least a couple hundred hours of community service.
My God!!! That's a horrible song!!! Let's use it to torture child molesters and terrorists.
PS: Why would anyone threaten to KILL this poor girl, when it's abundantly clear she's ALREADY BRAIN DEAD?!
Welcome to Anaheim, CA. Where the most exciting thing you can look forward to on a weekend is deciding whether to sit in the f@cking FRONT seat OR the BACK seat of a car. BTW, MORONS like this chick are NOT the exception here but rather the RULE! I need to get back to NYC and civilization.
God... I hope they get her. Er... I mean the suspects. Er... I mean I "hope" they get the suspects . Then I hope they bring this goofy looking b*tch up on crimes against humanity charges.
Bad? Yes. But how is it different from all the other pop clear channel crap on terrestrial radio?
Speak it!
I watched the video. Then every day for a week, I woke up with the song running through my head. I had to listen to 3 Iron Maiden albums in a row to get the song out of my head. While I think the video is well done, the song is repetitious, poorly written, and will probably on the radio (over and over and over.) It actually made me want to punch myself in the temple. Hard. Death threats because you don't like something are a sign of someone mentally unbalanced, and should be taken seriously. I do find it humourous that the yound lady's name + the video are "Black + Friday"
Republican on Republican violence must end!
Viewed it once out of curiosity. NEVER again! Pure pop trash drivel. It IS seemingly harmless, yet also w/out any artistic worth. I'd rather hear Katy Perry belch the alphabet! Just as meaningless, yet shows SOME talent.
Right! But at least Katy Perry has something going for her. She is over 18, and not unattractive. I find Katy's videos to be the most enjoyable with the sound turned OFF. I just feel bad that this girls shot at fame has gone so wrong so fast. It's amazing. She was probaly looking for her 15 minutes of fame, but I don't think this was the type of fame she was looking for.
Okay, yeah, the song is an unintelligent and auto-tuned atrocity, and the video is corny as hell, but who the F threatens death over something so petty?
Threats are the latest thing, if you don't like something, threaten the people involved. They threatened Palin's daughter for the talent show she was on. Look at the threats, violent protesting, and rioting that is going on in the world. The next step will be carrying out of those threats.
I have an idea!! If you don't like something, TURN IT OFF. People are unable to distinguish between reality and the flashing blinking box sitting in the living room or next to their computer. They think what they see on the screen is the most important thing in life, and react accordingly.
Hey this is my neck of the woods. Never heard of her, didn't see the video, but there's a lot of nutcases here in Anacrime, about 300,000 of them. I get accosted by several of them every week, doesn't even phase me anymore. Anaheim is #32 out of the 40 areas of the OC in terms of income, which means very poor. Population is somewhere around 75% hispanic, the police never have a dull moment to sit around. The outside likes to think of it as a nice clean tourist area with the Angels, Disneyland, Knotts and the Ducks. But really? Nah, there's a reason they call it "Anacrime" or "Anaslime" and its not because Mickey has gone rogue. Angel Stadium is in a very expensive part of town next to the Block and UCI. I know the unmoderated Wikipedia claims Ana-hell to be the safest city, but im sorry, its not true. And its about to get worse here too - Carls Jr has their headquarters in Anaheim but they're going to texas because its too expensive to stay here. No, I didn't vote for Jerry Brown. Other businesses are packing up, its not just here. Best advice to her? Ignore it. The chemically-imbalanced ones are just as common as rain on a Sunday morning, unfortunately. I've been assaulted, gotten threats, you name it. There's even some parts of Anaheim where the buses dont run, think about that one for a second.
I hate to sound like a racist,but I lived in Southern CA, too many illegal aliens....they were the source of alot of crime back then...then there were the chemically imbalanced US born dysfunctionals...
I do it too, a lot of people do. Complaining about illegal aliens is as offensive as complaining about any other type of criminal behavior. The race card is always played and that usually shuts people up. People are still walking on eggshells from the arizona fiasco, but I can care less.
Wow, such a cute young girl, I can only think of positive upbeat things after watching that video. I actually liked it. I guess there are just some weird people out there in this world. Too bad :(
People are idiots.
True, true. But are you really suprised?
I'm surprised that I'm NOT surprised.....
Capture Qaddalfi, ducktape him to a metal chair and blast this song on loop for 24 hours...he will break indeed!!! This would be a good choice for PsyOps short range special projects.
You can't do that, it would be "cruel and unusual punishment" and is probably outlawed under the Geneva Convention. It would work on the suspected terrorists at Gitmo, but then they would have to be put on suicide watch. Remember all the trouble we got into with the "Barney" song when it was played for Iraqi detainees. (Over and over)