Why 'Leave Britney Alone' Broke the Internet

on 09/10/2007 a 19 year old named chris crocker uploaded a video that would get over 18,000,000 downloads before the year was even out 18,000,000 in 2007 numbers that's just astronomical right and last week we were talking about charlie bit my finger which was this moment of like accidental domestic cute that went global this was the opposite this was intentional it was a raw emotional plea that basically defined internet activism for a generation okay so this is the leave britney alone video i remember the phrase but what was actually happening to britney spears at that moment that made someone need to film this i mean it was a complete media firestorm 2007 was the year of

her very public struggles custody battles relentless paparazzi shaving her head and the coverage wasn't sympathetic it was mocking it was cruel it was entertainment exactly and chris crocker who was just a teenager in tennessee saw someone who was clearly unwell being treated like a zoo animal so he turns on his webcam tears streaming down his face and just begs the world leave britney spears alone right now i mean it and the world listened and gave her some space please tell me that's what happened oh if only no the video went viral but the reaction wasn't about britney it became about chris the internet of 2007 as he put it was a much harsher less lgbt friendly place oh no yeah he was mocked for his femininity for being emotional he was called every gay slur imaginable the message which was just hey maybe

let's not publicly torture a human being was totally lost they just attacked the messenger so wait the cruelty he was calling out in the media the audience just turned around and aimed it directly at him that's the whole sociological nod of it they proved his point by victimizing him there's this quote from an article in into magazine that says it was our response to crocker's viral plea that tells on us as a culture and that's it wow yeah it's like a perfect horrible loop and crocker himself said it best years later he said no one now can argue with what i said they just didn't like the messenger and that is the absolute core of

it the backlash wasn't a disagreement on the facts it was discomfort with his identity with his raw emotion it was homophobia plain and simple so the video going viral wasn't really a success then it was just a different kind of pillory it was both it made him an icon but it also brought death threats and years of ridicule it's a case study in the double edged sword of internet fame but things have changed right i mean fast forward to the framing britney spears documentary in 2021 the entire world had a collective reckoning suddenly everyone was looking back at 2007 and going oh my god we were monsters to her and in that moment chris crocker

was completely vindicated he was just fourteen years ahead of the curve totally he saw it in real time because as he explained later he had his own personal reasons his mom was a veteran who came back from iraq with ptsd and ended up homeless and he felt this fierce need to protect her from people's judgment he saw the same vulnerability in britney oh that adds so much context it wasn't just some random fan it was deeply personal deeply and you know looking back the video is this incredible artifact it's about celebrity but it's also about what we demand from people online we demand authenticity but when we get it real messy emotional authenticity we often

punish it so what's the lesson he takes from it all after all this time his advice to young people online now is pretty direct he basically said let the haters kick rocks don't let them define you which coming from him carries some serious weight it leaves you wondering though if that video dropped today would the reaction be any different i'd like to think so but i'm not entirely sure