The ‘Leave Britney alone’ guy has a special message on the video’s 10th anniversary
Chris Crocker was an early viral star when he told the media to leave the popstar alone ten years ago.
Ten years ago, Chris Crocker became an Internet sensation with a message to the media and the world – leave Britney alone.
Crocker’s tearful vlog defending pop star Britney Spears’s then-comeback received millions of views in days and launched him to international fame.
Perhaps this clip Crocker has shared to mark the video’s anniversary will remind you why…
“While I’m known to do comedy: This was the one video that I was serious in,” Crocker, who was 19 when he came to Britney’s aid, wrote on Instagram.
Crocker said struggles at home, including his mother’s fight with addiction after returning from the war in Iraq, “made me defensive over any woman going through a hard time”.
“The internet and YouTube was a very different, less LGBT friendly place at the time,” Crocker, who deleted his YouTube channel a couple of years ago, wrote. “Nothing I said in the video was listened to. I was mocked for my femininity. I was called every gay slur in the book.
“So I decided that I would play up to the joke everyone thought I was. Realizing that telling them about what had actually triggered my emotional reaction wouldn’t be of interest to anyone.
“In the 10 years since this video a lot of LGBT Youtubers are celebrated for who they are. I often wonder if I had started videos later, if I would’ve been treated differently.”
Now aged 29, Crocker says he is still “happy” he posted the video but has learnt a lot in the past ten years – including some valuable lessons about life online.
Wise words.
And it seems there’s a lot on Twitter who would agree.
Well done Chris!
