Britney Spears had a rough year in 2007. The pop princess went to rehab, shaved her head, attacked a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella, and gave a widely-criticized performance at the VMAs, all of which inspired countless headlines.
But Chris Crocker, then 19, was also having a rough year. On September 10, 2007, the YouTuber uploaded a defense of his favorite pop star, crying and screaming in a short clip that quickly went viral — and earned him a seemingly endless stream of mockery.
Yesterday, on the tenth anniversary of his infamous video — in which he shrieked that people should ‘LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE’ — Chris reflected on what was on his mind at the time, revealing the personal struggles that made him so defensive of Ms. Spears.
Flashback: Chris Crocker, who went viral in 2007 with his defense of Britney Spears, is celebrating the video’s ten anniversary by sharing some enlightening backstory
Poor Brit: In the video, Chris cried and screamed that people should ‘LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE’
Anniversary: Now 29, Chris said he was going through a really hard time in his life when he shared the infamous clip
Chris was one of the first ‘celebrities’ to come out of the early days of viral content on the internet, but it soon lost the fun for the Tennessee native.
He was already quite popular on MySpace and YouTube when, on September 9, Britney took the stage at MTV’s Video Music Awards. Her lackluster performance of her single Gimmie More was widely panned, with fans and critics alike noting that she seemed to put in barely any effort.
The next day, Chris shared his candid defense of the star. Recording himself under a sheet, Chris cried, screamed, and seemed almost unhinged as he enumerated Britney’s personal struggles and told critics to back off.
Before the VMA performance that year, Britney had already been in and out of rehab more than once. She’s finalized her divorce with Kevin Federline, hashed through a custody agreement over their two kids, and famously shaved her head — before attacked a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella.
What started it: Britney had just given a sad performance at the VMAs
Not on her game: The star, then 25, was called ‘fat’ and critics complained that she didn’t seem to want to be there
Wild ride: The star was having a hard year and had already been in and out of rehab; many people were saying that she should have been taking a break from the public eye
Chris thought that the media coverage of her personal struggles was only making things worse and desperately wanted his favorite pop star to be able to cope privately and in peace.
The video quickly went viral, with many people mocking Chris’ reaction and using various gay slurs to bash him.
Now 29, Chris admitted on Instagram there were some very real problems that he was dealing with at the time, but didn’t feel like he could open up about.
‘Ten years ago on this day, I defended my favorite pop star against the media,’ he wrote on Sunday. ‘While I’m known to do comedy, this was the one video that I was serious in.
‘That year, my mom was battling addiction & became homeless after serving for our country in Iraq. The struggles in my home life and family life made me defensive over any woman going through a hard time,’ he explained.
Losing it: She famously shaved her head and also smashed a car with an umbrella
Get off her back: Chris cited all of these things in his video, pointing out that she had also gone through a divorce with Kevin Federline
More details: He revealed this week that at the time, his veteran mother had just returned from Iraq with addiction issues and had recently become homeless
Behind closed doors… He said that at the time he didn’t think anyone would care, but issues with his mother made him particularly defensive of women
Though it’s quite understandable that anyone would be emotionally wrought in such a situation, Chris decided not to make himself even more vulnerable by opening up.
‘The internet and YouTube was a very different, less LGBT friendly place at the time. Nothing I said in the video was listened to. I was mocked for my femininity. I was called every gay slur in the book. Talk show hosts questioned if I was a man or woman, after playing the clip.
‘I knew there was no way people would take me [seriously]. 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 (what my mom was battling) wouldn’t be of interest to anyone. So I gave them a cartoon of what they assumed I was, in my public appearances afterward.
‘But the truth is and always was about standing up for someone and not standing idly by when you see someone being hurt by others,’ he went on.
Sad: Instead of defending himself — even against homophobic slurs — he decided to embrace being a ‘joke’
Moving on… He pointed out that he was just 19 at the time and has learned a lot since then
Sticks and stones: He now knows better than to pay too close attention to what people say on the internet
Transformation! Britney, too, has come a long way since 2007
The pop star recently shared a happy snap of herself and boyfriend Sam Asghari at Disney
He added that things have changed a lot since the video was posted, and he wonders if he would have been treated differently if he had come to YouTube and social media later.
‘But what I will say is this: Even if I got a public beating for standing up for what’s right: I’m happy I did. And I’ll always love @britneyspears,’ he concluded.
Chris — who looks quite different than he did as a teenager, a decade ago — also shared a new video discussing what he’s learned in ten years.
He said he learned not to let what people say online to get to him, and not to let others’ words define him. He also learned that what’s posted on the internet can stick around for a long time or come back to haunt you, so it’s good to be cautious about what you share.