Ke$ha Hijacks Hollywood Sign in Late-Night Prank

Ke$ha, the queen of the Hot 100, has a viral video making the rounds that shows the "TiK ToK" star and her posse of friends sneaking into the heavily guarded area that surrounds the iconic Hollywood sign and hijacking it, using bed sheets and spray paint to turn it into "Ke$hawood." "HwOOD $IgN I$ oFFiciaLLY My bIZnatCH!!!!! Good work2allmyHoTCULpritss!! LOOK AT THE SIGN LA!," Ke$ha frantically twittered in the early morning hours yesterday.

The Cloverfield-esque video is up top, and while it's unclear whether the clip is a genuine prank or an elaborate hoax, we're definitely leaning toward the latter. We don't want to over-analyze what's a pretty good viral vid, but the fact that security was patrolling their actions prior to the crime and that the sign stayed up even after they were "busted" has us assuming this was all pre-arranged. Then again, there's a track on Ke$ha's Animal called "Party at a Rich Dude's House" where she sings about pissing in a champagne bottle, so maybe desecrating the Hollywood sign is just the type of devious and impetuous behavior Ke$ha would engage in. Still, given the Hollywood sign's own rich history of brief modifications for promotional reasons, we're voting hoax.

Rolling Stone recently spoke to Ke$ha in a candid Q&A, with the fast-rising singer telling us about living in Los Angeles, fake hippies, her relationship with her father and much more. To read our exclusive Q&A with Ke$ha, click below:

• Party Animal: Behind Ke$ha's Big Debut

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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