The internet talks — and Rebecca Black has heard it all.
“I’ve heard just about everything,” Black, 27, exclusively told Us Weekly of the online rumors she has heard about herself. “When I was in high school and Tumblr was huge and all those anonymous forums were big, I remember there being a rumor … that I did coke off of a Book of Mormon.”
Black reiterated to Us that the rumor is “not true, to clarify if anyone’s curious.”
“Not sure if that’s fine to say,” she added. “But yeah, I’ve heard it all.”
Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ Turns 14: Where is She Now?
Black — who is fresh off the release of her sophomore album SALVATION and the release of the music video for her single “TRUST!” — is no stranger to the entertainment business or the game artists often have to play to get recognized and remain relevant. After all, Black was just 13 when she released the music video for her viral song “Friday” in 2011, starting an online conversation that catapulted the singer into an overnight sensation.
“I mean, I think that the goal with anything that I make is just to start a conversation, whether it shocks people or not,” Black told Us. “I think if you watch the ‘TRUST!’ video and maybe you haven’t turned into what I’ve been up to for the last few years, maybe it would be shocking. But what I also love to see are people who have been around be like, ‘Nope, this has been going on. Makes sense. We’re just pushing it to the next step.’”
She continued, “So I love to be part of that conversation and watch it go down and I’ll continue to make what’s exciting to me, regardless.”
In addition to releasing a new album, music video and starting even more online conversations — true or not — Black is also navigating life in the spotlight since coming out as queer in 2020.
Rebecca Black Doesn’t Want to Be ‘Defined’ by ‘Friday’ 9 Years After Debut
“I just practice publicly,” Black told Us of her sexuality. “Not really a lot has changed [since coming out] other than I think I honestly felt — even before I came out, in the years that I was just being queer in my everyday life — a lot of my fans knew and my community was a lot smaller than maybe it is now.”
The singer added, “I think I have always had a really special relationship with all of the queer people in my life, regardless of my own [queerness]. I’ve always felt so grateful to the community for always accepting me before anyone else had.”
The “Friday” performer went on to explain that she now changes “the pronouns in my songs sometimes,” meaning she writes “with any pronoun.”
“I think my queerness has been something that has bred a lot of creativity,” Black explained. “But it’s not the defining factor of what I want my music to be, either.”
SALVATION, Black’s sophomore album, is out now.
Reporting by Christina Garibaldi
