A TikToker who went viral for releasing 'the most hated song on the internet' said the whole thing was orchestrated to get back at her haters

• TikToker Brooklynne Webb released a music video last week that went viral for being "cringe."
• The arrogant lyrics and over-the-top video were compared to Rebecca Black's "Friday."

A hugely popular TikToker said her recently released song, which was widely mocked across the internet for being "cringe," was actually part of an elaborate plan to prove a point about online bullying.

TikToker xoBrooklynne released her first single "My Crown," a pop song about dealing with "haters," on December 8.

She quickly went viral as online critics mocked her song, with Canadian culture magazine NEXT writing that Webb's "cringe-worthy lyrics and heavy autotune propelled it to a level of instant infamy rivaled only by Rebecca Black's 'Friday.'"

But the TikTok star is now saying that being trolled was her intention. She uploaded a YouTube video titled "HOW TROLLING GAVE ME A MUSIC CAREER!" on Saturday, December 18, in which she said the song was intended as satire, and that a lot of the lyrics were written to bait her critics.

Here's how her song went from one of the most hated on the internet to what's been described as "the best PR stunt ever" in under two weeks.

TikToker xoBrooklynne released 'My Crown' on December 8

Aged 17, xoBrooklynne, whose real name is Brooklynne Webb, has 10.3 million followers and 640.8 million likes on TikTok. Until recently, her most popular uploads were dance routines, beauty videos, and videos of herself singing off-key, which she now says she was "trolling" with.

She rose to popularity after publicly replying to hate comments criticizing her appearance and became known for her body-positivity and self-love advocacy.

Webb first teased "My Crown" on November 29 lip-syncing to some of the lyrics in a TikTok upload captioned, "I wrote a song dedicated to all of my haters."

After the song's release on December 8, it shot to notoriety and almost 40,000 TikTok videos have now used the song as a soundtrack. Uploads under the #xobrooklynne tag currently have over 106 million views, with #mycrown following behind at 82 million.

'My Crown' initially attracted criticism and mockery

The lyrics of "My Crown" were ridiculed online, with lines like, "Baby I'm no damsel / I'm just too hot to handle," "Might be emotional, but I'm better than everyone else," and "You sound jealous, that's sweet / But you'll never get a piece of my crown!"

Audiences criticized the "cringe" video for its over-the-top dance routine and high-school plot, where she is depicted as a quintessential "popular girl" who gets bullied by her "jealous" classmates before being crowned prom queen.

Users also mocked Webb for posting a number of comments reading "Thank you for using my song!" on TikToks which were largely critical of it, and for her seemingly earnest posts about it.

Jillian Rossi, who is credited as a producer on the song, posted a TikTok on December 10 in which she referred to "My Crown" as "the most hated song on the internet."

Public opinion shifted after Webb revealed what she says were the true intentions behind the song

On December 17, "My Crown: The Album" was released on streaming services, composed solely of comedic remixes of "My Crown," including a heavy metal rendition, a Spanish cover titled "Mi Corona", and what sounds like a cover played on the recorder, reminiscent of a famous Jurassic Park meme.

The following day, Webb uploaded a video to her personal YouTube channel titled "HOW TROLLING GAVE ME A MUSIC CAREER!" The video has over 300,000 views and 21,000 likes. She revealed that the production behind her "fake music career" had been in progress since April 2021.

The concept for the song was based on Webb's experiences with social media trolling — or her "haters."

"I've been on TikTok for about two years now, I've gotten to know the hate really well," she said in the video, adding that "hate" was the reaction that she wanted "because everyone kind of already hated me before this."

In a statement to Insider, Webb said the song was inspired by her "princess" TikTok persona saying, "I figured she would have little to no self-awareness. She would be so cringey and full of herself that it would be so entertaining."

She added, "The more and more dramatic I got with it, I realized people still weren't catching onto the bit. They thought it was actually how I act in real life. I was so committed to staying in character for such a long time, for over a month, so it felt good to let the act go and reveal everything."

Webb told Insider she wanted to prove that young women are genuinely funny and not the butt of the joke. "I really wanted to stand up for that message, and also show how normalized online bullying has become, even over something as innocent as a cheesy pop song," she said.

One of Webb's managers, Temima Shames, told Insider in a statement that the entire project was "carefully orchestrated through teamwork, months of strategic planning," and "most of the marketing happened on the fly or right before the song came out."

Webb has gained praise since she revealed "the truth" behind the song. One TikToker branded the album the "best PR stunt ever" in a video that has received over 400,000 likes, with top comments calling it "so funny." Another said she "called it from the beginning," and said Webb was a "genius."

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.