It happened, folks: Someone enlightened Josh Hutcherson (showed him the ancient texts canonical 2014 fan-cam that experienced a TikTok resurgence late last year). Before seeing the “Whistle†edit, he assumed it would be soundtracked by a different high-school-dance staple instead of Flo Rida’s “Whistle,†which actually provides the background music. “When somebody first told me, ‘The Whistle Song,’ I, in my mind, went to [Too $hort’s] ‘Blow the Whistle,’†he told ET on January 9 while doing press for his upcoming film, The Beekeeper.
Perhaps he thought the edit would feature $hort sharing his favorite word (bitch), reminiscent of a clip in which Hutcherson shared his favorite curse word (shit). Either way, his family made sure to show him the videos: “Finally, over the holidays, my brother and his boyfriend were like, ‘We need to sit you down and explain to you what’s happening online,’†Hutcherson recalled. “And so they gave me a rundown. They showed me all these videos and we were all laughing about it.†The edit first appeared on YouTube before making its way to the Clock app, where users inserted the clip into videos where you’d least expect to see Hutcherson’s face under the unforgiving spell of 2014 filter technology.
He even thought it was “some old photo shoot†before learning the true extent of the fan-cam. “I love it. It’s great,†Hutcherson joked. “Somebody said it became, like, the new Rickroll … I’m like, this is just wild and I don’t know why.†His first thought about what the fan-cam would sound like is, in some ways, funnier than the original. We deserve to hear Too $hort “go on and on†and wonder why he lasts so long over an endless montage of Hutcherson’s face. Someone release a new edit — we’re trying to see something.