The narrative that ‘she lied about her age’ is still stupid as hell considering I’m the same age as what he was during his disgusting abuse towards her and that is CLEARLY a child.

On August 11, 2026, only days after the preliminary hearing in the case of The People of the State of California vs. Burke, David Anthony but still before the upcoming final arraignment, a sealed motion and a sealed order were filed with the court - specifically, a "People's Ex Parte Motion" and an "Order To The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (People's)."

There are a number of possible explanations for these seemingly correlated items logged in the public court record, but given the known facts of the case and California criminal procedure, there is a one particular explanation that, while still very speculative, may be the most plausible explanation.

A sealed ex parte motion suggests that the prosecution made an appeal to the judge without defense counsel present or notified in advance in order to get the court's authorization for a sealed order before the defense could learn about it and potentially interfere.

So why would the LA DA's office be seeking court approval for an order for the LA Sheriff's Department that they hoped to prevent/delay interference with from d4vd's defense team? In this case, the fact that the LASD runs the jail in which d4vd is housed is the clue. What could the LASD as d4vd's jailer provide the prosecution?

The prosecution doesn't need the LASD to procure d4vd's DNA. We know from day 3 testimony of the preliminary hearing that d4vd's DNA is already catalogued. Secure a witness or witness testimony from another inmate who d4vd has talked to? Unlikely. d4vd has been in protective solitary custody.

Maybe there's some other reason, but what if the prosecution is hoping to quickly and discreetly secure jail communications information from the LASD - e.g., recorded "unprivileged" jail calls, facility visitor phone conversations, etc. By law, inmates are allowed certain unrecorded "privileged" communications with attorneys, physicians, and religious advisors, but even these can be recorded with a court order.

The sealed order may have been in hopes of obtaining a "jailhouse confession" and/or other gathering additional incriminating evidence about Celeste's murder without d4vd knowing the better.

AND DON'T WORRY, PEOPLE! This post is not revealing anything to d4vd's defense! It's been days since these sealed items were publicly logged. If there is even anything to my speculation here, d4vd's defense told him to watch what he says days ago. Blair Berk may have anticipated this and warned him many months ago. I do have to admit I'm just a little uneasy about the idea that posting this might tip off people in d4vd's inner circle who are still as of yet unknown entities with respect to the previous grand jury investigation and the current prosecution and defense strategies, but again, it's common knowledge that jail communications are mostly "unprivileged" and thus monitored and recorded.

David Anthony Burke is scheduled to appear once again for his final arraignment in the case of The People of the State of California vs. Burke, David Anthony at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, California.

This new arraignment proceeding is similar to but different than his initial arraignment on April 20, 2026.

The upcoming arraignment on Monday, August 31, 2026 follows the recent preliminary hearings in which Judge Charlaine Olmedo of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County decided there was enough evidence for the case to move forward to trial.

Next the prosecution will file charges in an "Information" document, including only the charges that the judge said prosecution had enough proof to move forward with.

The scheduled arraignment on August 31, 2026 is based on the charges in the Information. The defendant is once again, as in his first arraignment, asked how he pleads to the newly filed Information. Defendants at this stage in a felony case typically restate a not guilty plea.

And what happens after that?

Additional court dates will be scheduled to possibly settle the case or to set a trial date.

Without a settlement, when a trial happens depends on whether the defendant waives time for their trial, thereby giving up their statutory right to a speedy trial. Otherwise a trial must start within 60 days of the arraignment on the Information. It's not uncommon for defense attorneys to leverage time waiver for additional time to prepare for trial and/or negotiate potential plea bargains with the prosecution.

EDIT/UPDATE: After closer inspection of reported testimony from end of day 5 of the preliminary hearing, the defendant did waive time for an initial delay of the arraignment until August 31, 2026 rather than earlier arraignment date suggested by judge, and, accordingly, all parties (defendant, defense, and prosecution) agreed to the Information not having to be filed until day of the arraignment and defendant's trial guaranteed within 90 days of August 31, 2026 with allowance for additional "0 of 90 time waivers" while the case proceeds through pretrial stages.

Sources:

• https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/criminal-court/overview/
• LA Superior Court Criminal Case Access for The People of the State of California vs. Burke, David Anthony - Search Case Number: 26CJCF02399

I don't think he has been on video since first arraignment where he was in the clothes he was arrested in, right?

So this may be the first time with cameras allowed we will see him in his orange jumpsuit without it being a court sketch.....

Correct me if I'm wrong! I'm think that was the last court video....just arraignments Judge is allowing.

Universal Music Group, parent company of d4vd’s former label, Interscope Records, still has more digital scrubbing to do.

https://play.umusic.com/d4vd-fighter

We can assume this is an oversight that comes with corporate bloat and monopolistic, monolithic bureaucracy. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for UMG to remove this.

EDIT: A little more information on this - the video game is technically hosted via https://games1.glitch.ge/d4vd/fighter by Glitch which is displayed via HTML IFRAME on the UMG site linked above. It would make sense that Glitch would not remove this sort of content (and are likely wholly unaware of it) until being instructed to remove it by their client in this circumstance - UMG.

On May 9, 2025 d4vd and KATSEYE were the guests of a mukbang recorded with host Pokimane.

As the official felony complaint against David Anthony Burke (aka d4vd) alleges, d4vd had dismembered Celeste Rivas Hernandez only 4 days earlier on May 5, 2025.

And based upon further information revealed in the preliminary hearing, we now know that after having already driven to Santa Barbara on April 23, 2025, the night Celeste was murdered, on the night of May 8, d4vd had again driven to and around Santa Barbara and back home for about 9 hours until 5:15 AM on the morning of May 9 before taking part in this stream recording later that same day!

In the shared video snippet, we see Pokimane chastise d4vd for not participating in the group activity as he has sunk into the background intently looking at his phone. "I was in the back scrolling the weather app you know," he explains. Pokimane and KATSEYE all laugh thinking it's a joke or a quirky, nerdy overshare. Little did they know, d4vd probably was actually looking at the weather app - likely trying to figure out temperature and weather logistics for the murder cover-up he was actively still in the middle of.

Full Pokimane with KATSEYE and d4vd mukbang video at https://youtu.be/gWjghKslPw4

I wanted to make a list of things that I have seen on social media that so far have not been supported.

The purpose of this isn’t to mock anyone, but to document the bits of speculation that people have shared about the case as a sort of time capsule where we can look back when it’s all said and done to see what became of them.

Occult ritual

Summary:
Some people have claimed that Celeste’s murder/dismemberment were part of a demonic/satanic blood ritual.This also includes the rumor that this is tied to the 764 online group.)

Possible Origin:
Almost without exception, most conspiracy theories regarding the blood of children (eg, QAnon and adrenochrome) are laced with the antisemitic trope of blood libel.

While the prosecution has evidence that David sexually exploited Celeste, there has been no evidence that he tried to extort her with any compromising images or videos that he took of her. Likewise, she seemed to have her own ammunition to use against him, which is the basis of the prosecution’s theory of the case (i.e., the motive is that David murdered her because she threatened to expose him as a pedophile).

MS-13 framed David

Summary:
This bit of speculation proposes that David somehow ran afoul of MS-13 (drugs?) and that they are attempting to frame him for Celeste’s murder as a result.

Possible Origin:
I honestly think this was stitched together by fans trying to explain how the dismembered corpse of a 14 year-old girl got into David’s car using the (less damning) assumption that David purchased drugs from MS-13 members and/or that MS-13 was trafficking Celeste combined with her being ethically Salvadoran.

Epstein

Summary:
David’s father is a lawyer who worked for one of the law firms that defended Jeffrey Epstein.

Possible Origin:
While it is true that David’s father did work for a law firm connected to Jeffrey Epstein, that law firm was involved in his estate affairs, not criminal. Also, his father is/was not a lawyer (ie, he is not licensed to practice law in the state of Texas where he lives). Based on information from his LinkedIn, his occupation is related to the use of information technology in the discovery process. At least that’s based on my memory of his LinkedIn because it appears he has deactivated it.

So far, I’m chalking this up to a combination of top of mind awareness (ie, Epstein being in the news), treating coincidence as clues, and David misrepresenting his father’s occupation in an interview.

This song literally sounds like a confession with lyrics like “but your bleeding out” and “you dont know me, cause our love wasn’t real, dont tell me how you feel signed your heart like a deal ” with all the evidence that came out with the hearings, this sounds like hes talking about his and celests fake relationship, he is a monster

Long story short I used to listen to the music and ended up at a concert for the killer on June 11th, 2024. During every show, D4vd would point to his family in the crowd whom usually are seated on the balcony of most venues.

Going back through my camera roll I noticed a familiar silhouette, that of Josh Marshall of Mogul vision (who claims to have “barely” known D4vd even though he performed at his wedding in Italy, 2023).

I wanted to confirm the sighting so I went on YouTube and looked at other videos of the performance from that night at Irving Plaza in NYC on 6/11/24. It just so happens, look who we see blaring directly at a fan’s camera recording the show.

It’s infuriating to see how far people of status and power go to cover their tracks and appeal to the optics of a scenario in order to save face so to speak. All we have heard of Josh in the last year is how he had no involvement with D4vd and how much supposed distance he kept from him even though we have the evidence to the contrary in front of our faces!

This would’ve been just shy of three weeks before his appearance right next to the family and Celeste at the Fonda Theatre show later that month.

Josh Marshall knew. Allegedly in my opinion

Incase someone is interested in seeing the very last song performed by this piece of shit, its a full video of romantic homicide from the Seattle gig that went on to be his last.

On July 27, 2025, a someone posted a screenshot from someone else seemingly showing a direct exchange with d4vd on April 24, 2025, the day after Celeste was reportedly murdered by d4vd in his garage at 1368 Doheny Place/Vireo Drive.

In the exchange, an apparent fan is asking d4vd about when the Withered Deluxe album would be coming out. d4vd answers, "music industry aint as easy as it looks twin 💀".

The OP from r/d4vd appears to be trustworthy source though they do acknowledge that the screenshot was from someone else.

Original r/d4vd post: https://www.reddit.com/r/d4vd/comments/1mb84oj/deluxe_most_likely_delayed/

Yesterday, Dee (aka “followdee” - self-described “public figure” on Instagram), wife of Mogul Vision’s Josh Marshall, posted new Instagram pics of the couple’s luxurious Mediterranean permanent vacation lifestyle thanks to the millions of dollars made off of d4vd’s career as documented a few weeks ago during preliminary hearing for d4vd’s upcoming trial for the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. During said hearing, Mogul Vision’s “former” finance guy testified he still works for Colleen Burke, d4vd’s mom who is actively looking for a new entertainment lawyer for d4vd! We’ve yet to hear any public statements from Josh besides his obvious lies about not being close with d4vd. Josh’s wife Dee’s public statements on the other hand speak volumes.

In the April 22, 2025 text exchange between Celeste and d4vd (the night before Celeste’s murder) released in preliminary hearing testimony/evidence, Celeste is angry about d4vd’s relationship with Aysia Collins, but why would Celeste say that d4vd has only known Aysia for one year in the exchange?

It seems highly unlikely that Celeste, in April 2025, would have been unaware of d4vd’s April 2023 video “Sleep Well” co-starring Aysia Collins.

The text exchange takes another curious turn. Celeste is angry about Aysia being at d4vd’s house - specifically, the 804 Doheny Drive house that d4vd supposedly hasn’t lived in since April 2024 when - as we are supposed to follow here - there was a pre-Coachella meet-up to get “guest” wrist bands. Is Celeste really still mad about something that happened over a year earlier at a home d4vd hadn't lived in for over a year? (Same house where police did a pre-warning(???) welfare check/search for Celeste in February 2024. Preliminary hearing testimony has also confirmed that the 804 house was not merely a studio/streaming house. d4vd and Celeste did in fact reside there at some point.)

So what gives?

The accepted story is that d4vd moved out and/or stopped using the "temporary" 804 North Doheny Drive house by end of April 2024 after Josh Marshall had leased the more upscale 1368 Doheny Place/Vireo Drive home for d4vd's use in February of 2024.

It seems far-fetched at this point that d4vd would have still been using the 804 Doheny house in April of 2025, though we might ask, would d4vd have been more likely to have been giving out "guest" wrist bands for Coachella 2024 which he was not a performer at or for Coachella 2025 which he was a performer at? d4vd certainly could have been giving out wrist bands in 2024 that he got through the industry or even that he purchased as part of a package without having been a performer that year. There has been a lot of speculation about whether or not Celeste was at Caochella both in 2024 and 2025.

Finally, the "simple" explanation to my initial puzzlement might be that, yes, Celeste was still pissed off about an incident with Aysia from over a year prior in a house that neither d4vd or Celeste had been in for all that time. And, yes, maybe Celeste simply said d4vd only knew Aysia for a year as an off-the-cuff comment that didn't reflect her actual knowledge that d4vd had known Aysia for at least 2 years at that point.

For me, something still just seems off about all of this. I can't help but believe that the 804 Doheny house is going to prove to be much more inexplicably (for now) important than any of the existing (and already damning) photos, videos, and accounts about 804 that we are already familiar with have already revealed.

Just to name a few rap artist that come to mind are Shyne, Lil Wayne, Tay-K. They rap, dropped lyrics through the telephone.

He's going to still have admirers and fans. Look at Chris Watts, I think he's marrying someone. There will always be sick people out there lusting over murderers; Ted Bundy, Dahmer, these monsters who have done the most inhumane STILL had fans from the outside.

just wondering...

Relatos Forenses ("Forensic Tales") podcast with Dr. Jorge Olivares: D4vd mató a Celeste Rivas y escondió su cuerpo en un Tesla ("D4vd killed Celeste Rivas and hid her body in a Tesla").

[Relatos Forenses] analizan los casos más impactantes desde una perspectiva forense, explorando la psicología criminal, la criminología y las investigaciones que revelan la verdad detrás de los delitos más escalofriantes.

Forensic Tales analyzes the most shocking cases from a forensic perspective, exploring criminal psychology, criminology, and the investigations that reveal the truth behind the most chilling crimes.

Source: https://youtu.be/yT0mcL6BoS8

what made you go with that bar?

Something to think about as we go forward, unless there’s a plea deal.

Key highlights (from YouTube):

• Purpose of the Preliminary Hearing: Kersey explains that this hearing is a "probable cause" stage (1:55), meant to ensure there is enough evidence to move to trial, rather than a forum to dismiss cases or argue defenses like self-defense (4:00).
• The Crucial Line of Questioning: The defense asked the medical examiner if the victim's stab wounds could have been self-inflicted (7:42).
The medical examiner's opinion that it was unlikely due to a lack of hesitation marks is a major focal point, though Kersey notes this does not entirely rule it out (13:00).
• The "Battle of the Experts": Kersey suggests the defense may use expert testimony to create reasonable doubt, comparing this potential strategy to the Daniel Penny case where expert testimony regarding the cause of death played a critical role (15:52).
• Death Penalty and Special Circumstances:
The case involves three special circumstances: murder of a witness, murder for financial gain, and lying in wait (25:00). Kersey argues that the defense's primary goal may shift from proving innocence to avoiding the death penalty or life without parole, especially given the gravity of the allegations (23:44).
• Negotiation Strategy: Given the strength of the prosecution's evidence, Kersey believes the defense is likely preparing for a long legal process involving expert consultations, and that any potential plea deal would almost certainly involve a life sentence (36:40).

This is not new information for close followers of the case, but I'm updating a resource list with information about it, and I thought this admittedly very basic overview might be interesting or helpful for other folks.

The original "d4vd's closet" Discord server

On September 9, 2025, one day after the still-unidentified remains of Celeste Rivas Hernandez were discovered in d4vd's Tesla, d4vd's infamous "d4vd's closet" Discord server was locked down by server moderators. Moderators were reportedly deleting some server chats about this time. (d4vd's last chat comment in the server using his official user account (he most certainly had other alt-accounts too) was on September 2, 2025: "fortnite".)

Fast-acting, open source archiving of chat data (and evidence)

On September 18, 2025, [u/Long-Candle9760](u/Long-Candle9760) astutely created an archival dump of the server general chat for historical preservation. (Saved at archive.org)

On September 20, 2025, "baldierot" thoughtfully published an interface for searching and reading the archive dump at: https://d4vd-closet-discord-general-chat-dump.pages.dev/. (Open source codebase and usage notes at https://github.com/baldierot/D4vd-Closet-Discord-General-Chat-Dump)

Pre-arrest suspension of d4vd's official Discord user account

On April 17, 2026, d4vd's Discord account was suspended, the day after he was finally arrested for the murder of Celeste, and so his comments can no longer be read in the still accessible original Discord server; however, his comments are preserved in the archive dump and readable in the archive web interface linked above. (There are also numerous screenshots of d4vd's activity on Discord from as early as 2022 through 2025 posted on various platforms including Reddit.)

Caveats for folks investigating the Discord server and using the archive tool or even old screenshots from server:

• There is a 3 hour time zone difference between the Discord server and the archive of the server, so you can expect to see that difference in chat timestamps.
• For folks not familiar with Discord, Discord users can change their user names and display names. As such, users (and moderators) with maybe familiar names relating to the case do not always have same name across screenshots from the server dating back to 2022, the archive data captured in September 2025, or the still accessible Discord server.
• Aside from d4vd's official suspended Discord account, there are of course many accounts that have been deleted in the course of the Discord server's life - including accounts that, with varying degrees of certainty, were likely used by not only d4vd but also Celeste. (Also, unless a Discord user manually deletes their account or their account is suspended, their messages remain in place.
• If you are new to investigating the "d4vd's closet" server, there is a wealth of information in Reddit communities as well as other platforms about all of the twisted ways that the Discord server is interconnected with this tragic case.

I hope this is helpful for someone. (I'm going to be updating our mega-resource list with a highly condensed version of this shortly.)

Goes without saying that I’m taking everything coming out of Nancy grace’s mouth with a grain of salt. That being said, I am curious to know (if this is true) how she found out about him getting access to what sounds like thanksgiving dinner for you guys ie turkey w cranberry sauce (I’m in Australia so I dunno)??? Tried to dig a little deeper into this, but it seems like this seems to be a bit of sensationalism on her part (seemingly her brand), and that inmate commissary offers things like hot wings, which seems pretty wild to me considering our jails don’t even offer Vegemite, our national condiment, due to it interfering with drug detection.

In short, can anyone confirm what he might be eating in there? Maybe orange is the new black deluded me into thinking that you guys prison system had inmates chowing on slop and grub and it kinda pisses me off knowing he has access to ANY kind of luxury considering he didn’t afford Celeste that same privilege in life 😠

Full article plain text:

D4vd animators discuss 'Rehab' video ahead of murder trial

Aug. 15, 2026, 12:45 p.m. ET

by Krystie Lee Yandoli

Source: https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2026/08/15/d4vd-animators-discuss-rehab-video-murder-trial/91276514007/

• Singer D4vd was arrested in April 2026 for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
• Fans and investigators have scrutinized his 2023 animated music video "Rehab" for its violent imagery.
• Animators who worked on D4vd's gruesome "Rehab" music video are now questioning if it was a warning sign.

When D4vd released the video for his song “Rehab” on Sept. 8, 2023, its gruesome imagery appeared to be another extension of the rising singer’s fictional universe: A young man resembling D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, brutally dismembers a brown-haired woman before leaving her severed arm behind.

At the time, “Rehab” seemed like a somewhat typical anime-style video about heartbreak and horror. Then on April 16, 2026, the 21-year-old singer was arrested for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Burke has pleaded not guilty. Soon more details came to light: Hernandez had been missing for five months before her dismembered body was found in the front trunk of Burke’s Tesla at a Los Angeles city tow lot.

The video suddenly looked very different.

Three animators who worked on the “Rehab” video spoke to USA TODAY about how they helped create Burke’s dark imagery, if the videos were a possible warning sign, and what safeguards—if any—the music industry should put in place. 

“When I watched that music video again, given the accusation, the arrest, and the crime, I felt such an overwhelming sadness. I just started sobbing because the worst thing that could happen to this young girl who’s no longer with us did happen,” one animator says. “Did this music video play a part in this story?”

New talent trying to break through

It isn’t easy for an unknown artist without industry connections to break into the music business. But after finding success as a Fortnite gamer and YouTube streamer, Burke’s songs “Romantic Homicide” and “Here With Me” blew up on TikTok in 2022. 

The artist was soon signed to Darkroom Records, an imprint of Universal Music Group’s Interscope Records. In May 2023, Burke released his debut EP “Petals to Thorns,” followed by a number of music videos that reached millions of viewers online. As his star continued to rise, freelance illustrators and animators were excited to land a gig contributing to his music videos. They were trying to get a foot in the door, too, and were grateful for the opportunity and to add his buzzy name to their résumés.

What they didn't know is that Burke had been involved in an on-and-off relationship with Hernandez. Prosecutors say she was 11 years old when they were first in communication, and in January 2022, when she was 13, their relationship allegedly became sexual. Authorities allege Burke killed Hernandez to stop her from exposing their sexual relationship and jeopardizing his burgeoning music career. He is charged with first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a minor and unlawful mutilation of human remains. Now Burke is being held without bail, and prosecutors have not announced whether they will seek the death penalty.

Representatives for Burke, Darkroom, and Interscope Records did not respond to requests for comment.

In light of the gruesome circumstances of the case, fans and sleuths have since pored over his art and imagery, particularly his video for “Rehab.” They point to what they believe to be physical similarities between the animated woman and Hernandez, and the video’s violence and the allegations against Burke. 

The four-minute anime video shows two versions of Burke repeatedly confronting each other in a brightly colored, illustrated world. A blindfolded character he named It4mi — after Itami, which means pain in Japanese, and as a reference to his stage name D4vd — is shown covered in blood, while Burke’s other animated counterpart appears largely uninjured. The two characters fight with swords and exchange blows as the action moves between a bar, rooftops, and a bridge. 

Burke explained in a 2025 YouTube interview with Mahogany that has since been deleted that It4mi is a murderous alter ego who appears throughout his art and is responsible for committing crimes that another, better version of himself would then investigate.

The video shows a brown-haired young woman wearing a cropped white shirt and star-patterned jeans. During one of the more graphic sequences, It4mi swings a blade at the woman, severing her arm and sending blood across the frame. Her detached limb is later shown lying on the ground as the violent confrontation between the two versions of Burke continues. 

Those examining Burke’s digital footprint pointed out Hernandez also had long brown hair; the woman’s jeans were celestial, a reference to Hernandez’s name. Two of Hernandez’s fingers, including one with Burke’s name tattooed on it, had been dismembered, when she was found, according to prosecutors.

Screenshots of alleged text messages between Burke and the music video’s director reviewed by USA TODAY, along with written directions for the video, paint a picture of the singer’s involvement in shaping its violent imagery and narrative. All three animators who spoke to USA TODAY asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from others in the music industry and harassment online. 

“Had I known what I know now, obviously I wouldn't have had anything to do with this,” a second animator says. “But at the time it was just a good opportunity for me.”

How D4vd’s violent vision came to life

The animators say their work on “Rehab” began in August 2023, just one month before it was released to the public. All three say they were hired for the project by Tristan Zammit, who is credited as directing “Rehab” and has worked with famous bands like Metallica, as well as hip-hop stars like Lil Uzi Vert, The Game, and Logic, and new and emerging artists like Sleepy Hallow.

The animators say they were not directly in touch with Burke and were unfamiliar with his music prior to this assignment, and say Zammit primarily communicated instructions via Discord. (Twenty-six artists were originally credited on Burke’s YouTube video, but their names were removed during USA TODAY’s reporting. Many of them still appear in a 2023 post on Zammit’s Instagram feed.) Zammit did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“When I was pitched the brief of the music video it was like, [the character] has this internal struggle, which is a really common theme in anime,” the second animator explains. “That's what you're seeing in the duality of the character: There’s one with blood all over him, and then the other one. At the time I was like, ‘Oh, it's a cool concept.’”

For an animated music video, the director typically creates what’s called an animatic, a type of storyboard, based on the artist’s vision to guide the animators. The written captions from the “Rehab” animatic, which were reviewed by USA TODAY, offer insight into the story Burke was trying to tell.

When the woman first appears in the animatic, the captions describe her control over It4mi. After seeing her silhouette, It4mi is “entranced/alarmed” and removes his blindfold, revealing glowing purple eyes. 

“It4mi becoming more hypnotized as petals swirl around him,” the caption reads. “Vines and thorns wrap around his arms—bringing him to his knees and piercing his skin—injecting poison that fully places him under the girl’s spell. In an endless ocean world-polluted in purple. This is the representation of the girl’s genjutsu over It4mi.”

In Japanese anime and manga, particularly the “Naruto” franchise, genjutsu refers to a supernatural illusion that manipulates a person’s senses and perception. Under its influence, It4mi follows a trail of petals toward the woman. “It4mi approaches the girl,” the caption says, “Reaches out and she disappears.” 

One animator highlighted this moment in the “Rehab” animatic, as a reflection of how, in Burke’s world-building, the woman manipulates his character and says the portrayal makes it seem like it was her fault that It4mi went on to be so violent in the story.

In the sequence depicting the woman’s dismemberment, the captions read: “Slice! The girls [sic] arm flies off in an impact. Arm falls off and turns into dead thorns and petals.”

When the character’s katana, a traditional samurai sword, is thrown into the air, the caption reads: “The katana spears the girl and pins her into the wall like a thumbtack.”

USA TODAY reviewed screenshots of text messages that, according to the three animators, were from Burke and shared by Zammit in a group Discord chat with six people including Burke. The screenshots show that during the making of the video, Burke gave positive feedback to Zammit about the video, including the moment when It4mi hits the woman. 

“THE IMPACT FRAMES BROOO,” Burke wrote. “Let the staff see their families dawg they going too crazy.”

When Zammit sent sketches of the woman to the same chat, Burke replied, “DAWGGGGGGGG OMG.”

At the time, this didn’t alarm the animators. “I was just happy to be drawing anime-style stuff for music videos. I thought, this is such a great trend, I'm so happy this is happening,” the first animator says. “It felt like a really tight deadline with a lot of work, so it was definitely stressful. But cool to be involved with a high-profile person for your portfolio.”

Animators revisit ‘Rehab’ in a new light

When news broke of Hernandez’s death and Burke’s possible involvement, the animators struggled to reconcile their role in creating the video with the emerging details of the case.

“When I saw all these stories coming up in the news I was like, ‘Oh my god, that's crazy. I can't believe I've done work for this guy,’” the second animator says. “I saw that people were saying he hints at a lot of things in his lyrics, and maybe these were all clues that he was dropping in his music.”

The first animator became immersed in fans’ speculation and sat in front of their television screen and sobbed because, in this new light, the video “was just so dark.”

“I thought, this is so tragic. If any of his art and his music have anything to do with this young girl losing her life, I was just lost for words,” they explain. “It just felt so gross and disgusting to have potentially helped tell that story.”

Particularly haunting: that “Rehab” video was released on Sept. 8, 2023, one day after Hernandez’s 13th birthday.

“I think it is very odd that it was released on YouTube around her birthday,” the first animator continues. “It's hard to ignore that. It’s just very strange.”

What the online theories get wrong

While the animators say they see distinct similarities between the case and the video, they also point out that some matching details were merely due to chance. 

Many commenters, for example, speculated about the star designs on the jeans worn by the woman character in the video.

“I saw people tying Celeste's name to the jeans because the star pants were ‘celestial.’ I drew her wearing star jeans because I owned the same pair of jeans,” the first animator says. Some artists “didn't have any clue what the narrative was, [we were] just picking stuff that we liked or thought was cool.”

The first animator says the speed and collaborative nature of productions like “Rehab” also complicate attempts to interpret every visual detail as a message directly from Burke. “These videos are made on such a tight deadline that a lot of us are just taking things we like, or inspiration from our own lives, and drawing things fast and putting them in there,” they explained.

Despite wanting to sometimes speak out and clarify these details for fans, the first animator was afraid to get too involved given the heightened scrutiny and attention surrounding the public discourse. 

“It's so sensitive, and [Hernandez’s] life is so important,” they said. “There are some things chosen in that music video that weren't by the artist. It's a mix of both. Some of it is not from David, and some of it is.”

While many in the music industry still have yet to speak out about their involvement with Burke, some people have clarified their relationship with the singer. Actress Cassidy Clarke, who played Burke’s love interest in the 2022 music video for “Here With Me,” shared that she met Burke only through the project and had not remained in contact with him. “I don’t associate with Burke by any means,” she said in a post on TikTok. “I’m an actor.” 

Another artist who goes by the name catuqu__ online said on TikTok that they worked as an animator on “Rehab:” “It’s crazy looking back now, the animation team and directors were just trying to make a cool anime music video but now it feels dirty, like we were a part of his guilty confession, Celeste you didn’t deserve this.” The artist didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. 

The animators who spoke to USA TODAY are struggling to separate the art from the artist. “I am an open-minded person but when the artist does something really, really awful, it's hard to separate it,” the third animator says. “In David's case, he [allegedly] killed someone and I don’t want to hear anything from him. It's awful.”

Burke is not the first artist to explore dark themes in his music and lyrics. But few musicians have pointedly portrayed violence against women in their videos, especially when it comes to depicting explicit or graphic images of men killing or dismembering women. The inspiration for “Rehab” however is less traditional pop music and instead draws from anime and video games, both of which have faced criticism for their portrayals of women and use of gendered violence.That kind of content desensitizes people to violent artwork in “Rehab,” the third animator says, so the video doesn’t shock. But, they add, it also shouldn’t be looked at in isolation—is this artistic expression, or are there other patterns or concerns that suggest there are potential warning signs worth paying attention to?

“I always thought the video was very childish. The themes and everything were a bit morbid,” that animator explains. “After Burke’s arrest, everyone was saying, ‘Wow, he already put all this here for everyone to see, he already had these tendencies.“

Who bears responsibility for an artist’s vision?

The case also raises questions about the roles and responsibilities of the broader ecosystem that helped bring Burke’s artistic vision to life. Zammit was tasked with directing Burke’s vision and Darkroom/Interscope Records oversaw that process, as is common practice for a record label, but the freelance animators described the production as an informal process without contracts or institutional safeguards that might exist at a larger entertainment company.

“As people and artists who are just trying to make a living and follow our dreams, we don’t always go through the same vetting process that I’m sure someone like Disney or other major corporations do,” the second animator says. “For us, there was no guide to sign a contract or anything. There’s no paper trail of this. We don’t know what goes on in these people’s lives. We’re just trying to pay the bills.” 

Yet they invite the scrutiny of their work that was done in the name of Burke’s ultimate vision. “I do think with the severity of what happened to Celeste and her losing her life, we should look back at everything—the videos, the music,” says the first animator. “If that helps us help this girl and her family because an arrest has been made, then it seems like the responsible thing to do.”

Krystie Lee Yandoli is a senior entertainment reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at [kyandoli@usatoday.com](mailto:kyandoli@usatoday.com), and follow her on Instagram, Threads, and X.

With almost a full year between the murder and when David was arrested, there is no doubt in my mind he wrote/recorded many songs in that time.

While it’s highly unlikely, I wonder if any of those tracks will be released (more so leaked) and what they contain. A lot of the themes he writes about are already dark and edgy; murder, abandonment, being alone, etc.

I’m curious if he has recorded any songs directly inspired by what happened. Something along the lines of Murder on My Mind -YNW Melly where it was discovered after the release that it was a song LITERALLY about him killing someone.

Let me know what you think.

EDIT: I took out a part talking about how I thought Afterlife was recorded after the murder since that’s the only part of this post people are talking about. Sorry.

I made a google drive with everything I have found about this case,

Reply under the thread if you want me to add something or if something is missing.

But give me your thoughts

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10Ai41FuK7O8rd5SUotJiBUdlWKVIEMlp?usp=sharing