Paul Rodriguez/The Orange County Register/Zuma
"Those hurtful comments really shocked me," Black, 13, tells the Daily Beast. "At times, it feels like I'm being cyberbullied."
The worst words she's received? " 'I hope you cut yourself, and I hope you'll get an eating disorder so you'll look pretty,' " Black said on Friday's Good Morning America. "When I first saw all the nasty comments, I did cry … I don't think I'm the worst singer, but I don't think I'm the best."
Not that she's necessarily singing the praises of the song, which was part of a $2,000 package her mother paid to Ark Music Factory, an L.A.-based vanity production company for aspiring teen singers. The producers offered her two songs, and she settled on "Friday" because, she told the Daily Beast, "The other song was about adult love – I haven't experienced that yet. 'Friday' is about hanging out with friends, having fun. I felt like it was my personality in that song."
And whether she likes it or not, her music video has racked up nearly 16 million hits on YouTube – and overtaken Charlie Sheen's pre-eminence on the site – so is she the next Justin Bieber?
One thing is for sure: She'd definitely like to sing with him. "I have Bieber fever," Black told GMA. "I am in love with Justin Bieber. [A duet] would make my life!"
• Additional reporting by RENNIE DYBALL
