This could only happen on the Internet: The New Zealand website Stuff has announced that a story claiming Rebecca Black was fake was, well, fake. We're working under the assumption, of course, that Stuff's account isn't itself a hoax.

According to Stuff, an article surfaced today on the web suggesting that Black's hit single "Friday" was in fact a viral marketing campaign for an upcoming Universal Studios family movie, The Music Factory, featuring a fictional character named Rebecca Black played by an actress named Jessica Jones. The story, per Australia's News Online, also stated that the movie would be directed by Home Alone's Chris Columbus and that it would be about "a secret facility where cyborgs resembling young teenagers are created and turned into pop stars." The story, which got picked up on several social networks including Twitter, appeared as if it had been published on Stuff's website even though it didn't share Stuff's URL. The mock article appears to have been taken down.

This isn't the first Rebecca Black-themed prank perpetrated on the web. On April Fools' Day, the teenage YouTube sensation transformed the website FunnyOrDie intoFridayorDie (see screenshot above).

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at ufriedman at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Uri Friedman