How did fans feel about Leave Britney Alone when it came out?

[brit_wing]

Now i read he was only 19 at that time  I can't imagine his pressure of being laughed at by the entire world just because he cared about Brit. Every word he said is so right I see no lies. I can see that he was hurt and genuinely care so much. He did an interview days ago and he still tell people to focus on britney after years of being mocked.  To me he is the true hero

"There's no way to feel vindicated about it because the entire point of making the video was for her to be happy and free and to know that in real time, at this very minute, she still is not?" they said. "Overall, it's still not about me. And I think people like to retroactively clap for me or say they should have listened, but I'm more interested in people self-reflecting on why they didn't."

Source: https://www.npr.org/2021/06/27/1010355669/chris-crocker-leave-britney-alone-video-creator-reflects-on-whats-changed

How did fans feel about this when the video went viral? Did fans support/get embarrassed? I became a fan after this so i don't know.

 

[Corruptured Colon]

I personally thought he was making valid points, but being a little too extra for people to take him seriously. And I was confused about why he felt the need to share this all from under a blanket  But yeah, I remember people making fun of him when the video first came out. 

[NewDisplayName]

I felt him tbh and was sorry for him cause everybody was laughing at him.. his intentions was good I think but result was opposite and britneys supporters looked more joke or smth.. 

our world is really cruel : /

[PokemonSpears]

while he may have had a point, the way he did it really made it seem like a joke, like a parody, and it has nothing to do with the preferences or orientation or identity

I know that if it wasn't that extra, it wouldn't have gone viral, but he could've expressed the same feelings talking normally, like he did during interviews

 

tbh, I wasn't very happy, because people not only made fun of him (which was very cruel, I admit it), but then he literally became the face of the Britney fanbase for the GP. It was like, if you admitted you liked Britney, you would instantly turn into Chris Crocker before everyone's eyes. So when in the past it was normal for everyone to like Britney Spears, from all ages, genders, nationalities, etc, after this video it was like, if you were a Britney fan you could only be like him. That's when I started noticing people considering Britney a "guilty pleasure", or they had to put this disclaimer of "I'm not a Britney fan, but I like this song of hers" so you wouldn't think they're crying "leave Britney alone" in their spare time. And it wasn't only that people would think you were like Crocker, but it also made impossible to defend Britney from the attacks, because it was like, if Chris Crocker is a joke, and he's defending Britney, then defending Britney is a joke as well 

 

[b42ad]

I think a lot of us were scared of being tarred with the same brush because he was very over the top in the video but all of the points he made were correct and have been validated over time.

[Hot.As.Ice.]

I was little but that was after I already became a stan and I also was a fan of Chris Crocker and I would watch his videos. So I saw it right when he posted it and I agreed with him and I was proud of him for speaking up for her when everyone was trying to tear her down. I didn’t expect it to become viral

[Scrappy]

I remember this …was shocked by the hate he got. I thought he was hot and low-key sad he was gay. It made me realize tho just how bad homophobia was and I’m ashamed to say I didn’t stick up for him more out of fear.  I did try a few times in my family, but then I got labelled and bullied, so I shut up about it all. 
 

But later when he pulled down the posters in the other video I felt betrayed a bit although I also understood since I had to do the same to avoid being vilified by people I knew who were anti Britney 

[Poison Paradise]

From what I remember she wasn’t a fan but there was so much going on at that time idk. Wasn’t he booted off the piece of me set?

[brit_wing]

1 hour ago, PokemonSpears said:

while he may have had a point, the way he did it really made it seem like a joke, like a parody, and it has nothing to do with the preferences or orientation or identity

I know that if it wasn't that extra, it wouldn't have gone viral, but he could've expressed the same feelings talking normally, like he did during interviews

 

tbh, I wasn't very happy, because people not only made fun of him (which was very cruel, I admit it), but then he literally became the face of the Britney fanbase for the GP. It was like, if you admitted you liked Britney, you would instantly turn into Chris Crocker before everyone's eyes. So when in the past it was normal for everyone to like Britney Spears, from all ages, genders, nationalities, etc, after this video it was like, if you were a Britney fan you could only be like him. That's when I started noticing people considering Britney a "guilty pleasure", or they had to put this disclaimer of "I'm not a Britney fan, but I like this song of hers" so you wouldn't think they're crying "leave Britney alone" in their spare time. And it wasn't only that people would think you were like Crocker, but it also made impossible to defend Britney from the attacks, because it was like, if Chris Crocker is a joke, and he's defending Britney, then defending Britney is a joke as well 

 

I don't blame you or other fans disliking the vid at that time. It was a different world back then in 2007. It was cruel. People who were making fun of britney definitely didn't see themselves apologizing to Britney 10 years later. 

I agree some parts can be extra and even myself found it funny but i don't think he is acting. I feel like he just care too much like many of us do now. It's heartbreaking that at that time people were count down/wishing her death, a mother of 2 young babies. If i were him i would be that angry too. The only extra thing is that he upload a teary video. But i guess he just wanted to get the message out? Thats probably why he say it in such way?

Anyway i respect him so much for speaking up for her when nearly no one dare to, even if he unstan/become a hater later. After all he was cyberbullied.

[brit_wing]

3 hours ago, NewDisplayName said:

I felt him tbh and was sorry for him cause everybody was laughing at him.. his intentions was good I think but result was opposite and britneys supporters looked more joke or smth.. 

our world is really cruel : /

Aww you must have been a kind and innocent kid who don't judge

Honestly people are disgusting. He is clearly is distress and all people do is making fun and  bullied him.

Im quite sure in 2021 someone crying in desperation will not become a meme. People will show much more compassion.

[AP4]

It made Britney fans and those defending Britney into a joke because it was so over the top and embarrassing. Yes he made valid points but no one that wasn’t already defending her listened to one thing he said because of the dramatics of it all. It just made it so anyone defending Britney was dismissed with “LEAVE BRITTANY ALONE” - you know because the GP has to spell her name wrong all the time to prove how much they don’t know 

[thebritmaster]

It went viral back when viral meant the whole world heard it. I liked Chris as a comedian influencer type and was looking forward to his MTV reality show but then he flashed his goods to the paparazzi among other antics and it got cancelled 

[imadrinkyuradrunk]

I was 14 at the time... I watched his videos. They were all for clout. Like, him claiming him and his brother were together 

Does no one else remember this??? Just me? Okay.  So I would watch purely for entertainment. 
 

then this happened and I was a MAJOR Britney fan. Like obsessed. And I had conflicting feelings because I watched him (he was kind of the Trisha of YT at that time) and thought he was entertaining, but also problematic sometimes. I wasn’t sure how genuine he was. I think there was truth to what he was saying, but again, I can’t help think it was for clout. And it worked. Maury listened. But everyone made fun of him, it wasn’t a good look for Britney fans at the time. 
 

That being said, glad this video exists and people are seeing it in a different light nowadays 

[Body ache]

I didn't think it was a big deal but the media made me feel embarrassed about it. Cris didn't lie though.

[Stannedforever]

I never took it too seriously. Yes, he did say important things and got great points, but but in the other hand it was way too extra so I just found it funny. And it didn't help that it ended up being a meme and back then memes were everywhere from t-shirts and other merch to every media outlet possible.

[Matou]

This video again, it's haunting me