A 4-year-old Southern California girl rose to internet fame by predicting football winners on her dad’s social media — and is now at the center of an online firestorm, facing death threats as angry gamblers blame her for their losses.
What started as a cute father-daughter bonding ritual between preschooler Reese Donatelli and her dad, SoCal radio personality Anthony Donatelli, has turned into an online nightmare that he calls “nuts.”
The charming ritual — part of a series called “Trust the Toddler” — began innocently enough, as a way for Donatelli to teach his daughter about colors and geography using miniature football helmets.
Fans had been delighted by little Reese, watching as she enthusiastically chose winners by grabbing the helmet of the team she thought would triumph. Her videos amassed millions of views and thousands of likes and comments.
But things went south earlier this month during the NFL’s Wild Card round.
Reese reportedly started missing a lot of games, becoming an accidental reverse-jinx for teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As her misses went viral, the “Trust the Toddler” comments section turned dark.
The toxicity reached a breaking point when the family reportedly began receiving explicit threats
“She’s obviously not an NFL analyst,” Donatelli told the Los Angeles Times. “She’s picking teams based on the color of her dress, or she’ll pick the Packers because she likes cheese. She just relates these silly little things as reasons why she picks certain teams.”
Even Cardi B got in the mix, reportedly taking a dig at Reese after she chose the New England Patriots to beat the Houston Texans over the weekend.
In an Instagram live, she said that “little white girl said we’re going to win. F–k that bitch!” She then immediately added, “I didn’t mean to say that.”
Reese’s prediction in that game, though, turned out to be correct.
