[Photo by: LuisFonsiVEVO/YouTube]
“Despacito,” singer Luis Fonsi’s 2017 hit with Daddy Yankee, was reportedly deleted from YouTube this week by a group of hackers after becoming the first video to reach 5 billion views on the website.
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While YouTube appears to have already corrected the hack, the NME reports that visitors to the video’s YouTube page were greeted with “a video still that shows masked figures aiming their guns at the camera” early Tuesday after it was compromised by hackers using the names “Prosox” and “Kuroi’sh,” who also wrote “Free Palestine” under the replacement clip.
Yesterday, the “Despacito” video became the first to reach 5 billion YouTube views. The hit pop song, released early last year, experienced massive success in the form of a several-week stretch at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and a popular remix featuring Justin Bieber. The original tune has also been streamed a reported 4.6 billion times.
The brief “Despacito” hack apparently affected a number of other artists’ YouTube videos, including those by Taylor Swift, Drake, Selena Gomez and Shakira.
“Vevo can confirm that a number of videos in its catalogue were subject to a security breach today, which has now been contained,” said a representative for music video service Vevo, according to the NME. “We are working to reinstate all videos affected and our catalogue to be restored to full working order. We are continuing to investigate the source of the breach.”
A YouTube spokesperson added, “After seeing unusual upload activity on a handful of VEVO channels, we worked quickly with our partner to disable access while they investigate the issue.”
For now, it looks like “Despacito” is back to enjoy in all its 5-billion-views glory: