Eccentric Witness Lady / Backin' Up

About

Eccentric Witness Lady / Backin' Up refers to a viral 2010 news clip in which an eccentric eye-witness humorously recounts the events of an armed robbery at the local gas station that morning. The video went viral the week it was uploaded, resulting in a number of remixes, including one by YouTubers Schmoyoho.

Origin

On September 1st, 2010, kansascity.com^[1] reported on an early-morning robbery at the local Shell Food Mart. On the same day, news station KMBC posted a video to YouTube^[2] interviewing Diana Radcliff, a victim of the robbery, outside of the store in which she gives an eccentric retelling of the story, acting out various parts, including an infamous section where she describes how she had to "back it up" to distance herself from the robbers (shown below).

The video went viral as viewers began to share it on social media with the original upload garnering over 812,000 views in 11 years. On September 3rd, YouTuber^[3] loraaah reuploaded the video under the title, "Best Witness Statement Ever – Eccentric Lady," garnering over 1 million views in a comparable span of time.

Spread

The videos quickly inspired remixes, the most popular of which, titled "BACKIN UP SONG!!," was uploaded by YouTubers^[5] Schmoyoho, famous for their "Autotune the News" series, on September 3rd, 2010, garnering over 12.7 million views in 11 years (shown below).

On September 6th, the KMBC YouTube^[4] channel uploaded a video reporting on the interview going viral, including a clip where they show Radcliff the Schmoyoho remix to which she reacts positively, garnering over 100,000 views in 11 years (shown below).

On December 13th of that year, musical group and YouTubers^[6] Walk Off the Earth posted a cover of the Schmoyoho remix, garnering over 7 million views in 11 years (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References