Chris Crocker
Encyclopedia
Chris Crocker is an American Internet celebrity
, songwriter
, blog
ger, and recording artist. Crocker gained international fame in September 2007 from his viral video
"Leave Britney Alone", in which he tearfully defended pop singer Britney Spears
's comeback performance at the MTV Video Music Awards
; his video had over four million views in two days. The video received international media attention, hundreds of parodies and criticism for Crocker.
He is a self-described "edutainer
" who produces and acts in multiple videos. In almost all of Crocker's work he presents himself as an openly
gay
and effeminate
Southern adolescent in a "small-minded town" in the Bible Belt
where his sexual orientation
and outspokenness are a "subtext... rarely addressed directly and never completely accepted." The Tennessee
-based Crocker, a stage name, keeps his identity and exact location private because according to him, and as seen in the public comments to his work; there were safety concerns and death threats in response to his YouTube
and MySpace
video blogs and profile. According to his MySpace profile, Crocker lived in Los Angeles as of January 2008. As of May 2010, Crocker has returned home to Tennessee
and solely travels to Los Angeles for business ventures.
His work consists mainly of short-form self-directed monologues shot in his grandparents' home. , Crocker's videos have received a combined 50 million plays on MySpace, and his vlog channel on YouTube is the 100th most viewed of all time in all categories, with over 205 million video views. Crocker's detractors and critics have accused him of narcissism
, melodramatics, histrionics, and using Spears' personal shortcomings to bolster his own fame. Others have accused Crocker of acting in the "Leave Britney Alone" video, although he insisted it was genuine on a September 2007 appearance on Maury Povich
's Maury
show.
dolls to kindergarten for show and tell
rather than the toys or action figure
s usually associated with boys. He lived in Eastern Tennessee and was homeschooled
in response to constant "death threats, bullying and glares at his clothes and makeup" specifically after allegedly being "harassed by a homophobic
high school gym coach". Crocker lived with his fundamentalist
Pentecostal
grandparents who continued raising him when his teenage parents were not able; while his grandfather reportedly knows little about his Internet fame, his grandmother has reluctantly appeared in some of his videos.
, Southern, flamboyantly gay
" adolescent in a "small-minded town" in the Bible Belt. His sexual orientation
and outspokenness have been described as a "subtext... rarely addressed directly and never completely accepted" in his hometown. According to Crocker, when his grandmother found out that he was gay, she initially "said that [he] needed an exorcism
". Crocker, who laments his town's lack of gay culture
, said, "The only gay pride parade where I live is in my bedroom" as he held up a rainbow frosted cupcake. He added, "We don't have pride and rainbows
here. We have MySpace
. We don't have bathhouses
, we have outhouses."
Crocker's earliest experience with online networking was as an editor of an e-zine
, where he met his first boyfriend, with whom he was only able to interact online and by phone. Crocker later found another online forum, where his acting skills helped him blend in on a free phone party line run out of Los Angeles "filled with flaming black men, black drag queen
s, and trannies
from Compton
", where he was outed as white and dubbed "Cracker
". In June 2006, after years of experience on the Internet, Crocker started uploading self-produced videos, characterized as his "singularly bizarre and angry take on gay life and his intolerant
town".
described as a "cult following
". Prior to Crocker's defense of Spears, some of the more than sixty videos he had posted to the two social networking websites had already been viewed more than a million times each, and his YouTube channel was in the top rankings. In May 2007, Crocker was the subject of a lengthy profile in the Seattle alternative weekly
The Stranger
.
In addition to the "Leave Britney Alone" videos Crocker has produced and posted dozens of others with over fifty posted on both MySpace and YouTube, although some are only posted on one site or the other, many becoming "viral video
hits". Some consider them to be bold and seething "flares sent up by a young gay man marooned in a sea of rednecks" who is stuck in a small town that "can't tolerate
homosexuality
and punishes flamboyance." Crocker's videos include "sex-filled confessions" and "wild monologue
s" talking "about everything from AIDS
to pubic hair." In many of the videos he portrays characters, such as an older deeply religious woman in the "The Earl Annie Edna show" series and exaggerated comic characterizations of Southern stereotypes earning comparisons to Andy Kaufman
and being called "an insidious satiric
mastermind".
page, while the better-known "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!" (part 2) was posted to both MySpace
and YouTube
. In "Leave Britney Alone pt.1", an emotional Crocker stated that he did not want fellow Southerner and gay icon
Britney Spears
to spiral out of control like Anna Nicole Smith
, who had died in February 2007. , the video had been viewed over 35 million times and has accumulated a total of over 500,000 comments. It is just a few seconds shorter than the second part, and Crocker, although emotional, remains relatively calm and composed, becoming teary only at the very end.
In the videos, Crocker lashes out at gossip columnists such as Perez Hilton
, and at reality TV
star Simon Cowell
, who criticized Britney Spears' onstage music performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards
in Las Vegas
. Within the first 24 hours of its posting, the video had accumulated over 2 million views. , it has accumulated a total of 24 million views and is the second most discussed video of all time on the site (in all categories), with over 350,000 comments. "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!" is one of YouTube's fastest "climbing" videos, reaching the minimum seven million views needed to be included in the "Top 100". The video was nominated in the Commentary category in the 2007 YouTube Awards
. The video received worldwide attention and earned Crocker interviews on CNN
, Fox News, MSNBC
, The Today Show, Maury
, The Howard Stern Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Ryan Seacrest
's KIIS-FM
morning show. Crocker and his video were also commented on in the mainstream media by shows like The View and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. YouTube said "the melodramatic two-minute clip made Crocker an instant YouTube star" and named it one of the top videos of 2007. Wired magazine named it the top video of 2007.
Although sometimes shown in conjunction with news footage of Spears' performance, the "pure performance art
" video has become its own story, with the news media and gossip industry offering opinions on the phenomenon and even joking that Crocker could be "an insidious satiric
mastermind" and compared him to Andy Kaufman
. In the video, Crocker proclaims, "All you people care about is readers and making money off of her. She's a human! Leave Britney alone!" Crocker stated that although he is often acting in his videos, his emotions were genuine and "straight from the heart"; although he described the clip as a "second take" in one interview, he clarified on Jimmy Kimmel Live
that he meant that it was the second part of a longer video, the first part being "Leave Britney Alone pt. 1".
The "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!" video became a satire
target with parody videos as well as references in mainstream television spoofs, and films. Actor Seth Green
's parody, which included him applying eyeliner several times and promoting his show Robot Chicken
, called for people to "leave Chris Crocker alone!" Some video responses characterized Crocker as a drama queen and, Wired magazine noted, "sent world Schadenfreude
levels zooming to heights unseen since the Fatty Arbuckle
scandal."
The January 2008 parody film Meet the Spartans
used pop culture references and met with generally poor reviews; the Electronic Urban Report called Crocker's cameo the "film's funniest moment". Both Crocker and the video were also parodied in the South Park
episode "Canada on Strike" with a cartoon Crocker running around in a fight between various Internet meme
s, telling them to "leave the others alone". In March 2008, a "trance
remix
" dance single "Leave Britney Alone" was released on iTunes
and other sites by "Double J" featuring quotes from Crocker's video.
On the Hannah Montana
episode, "Welcome to the Bungle", when Lilly phones the journalists to tell them to leave Hannah alone, she accidentally shouts "Leave Britney alone!". Miley questions "Britney?" and Lilly corrects herself by responding, "Oh, oh, sorry, my bad.. 'Leave Hannah alone!'".
While numerous news and media outlets reported on the viral video
, Fox News Channel
's morning program Fox & Friends
commentators questioned his gender and compared the fabric backdrop in his video to Osama Bin Laden
's videos. Crocker produced two response videos – Poor FOX "News".. and Rosie O'Donnell was right about FOX "News" (originally posted as "Dear Fox 'News'") – addressing what he characterized as bias
ed treatment while he called Fox News the "Republican
, conservative, homophobic
channel". Crocker's stated concerns were the commentators calling him a "she/he" and what he felt was their needless questioning of his gender instead of commenting on the content of his video.
Crocker's video was referenced in an episode of American TV series Glee
, "Britney/Brittany
", in which Brittany Pierce tells the glee club she does not want to perform Britney Spears' music because she feels she has been overshadowed by her fame due to the similarity in their names. Kurt is angry at Brittany, but Santana replies, "Leave Brittany alone!"
reported that Crocker was being sued by Onch Movement Jewelry for 1 million dollars, for fraud and breach of contract and provided a copy of the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles. Jewelry designer Nelson Chung, professionally known as Onch and a fan of Crocker, hired him as a celebrity spokesmodel for more than two days' worth of publicity work as well as appearance at World of Wonder's Just Britney
art show in exchange for airfare. It was speculated by DMW Media that Crocker had no legal representative as the agreement seemed unbalanced. Crocker did make appearances including at gay
club Rage and the art show where he was interviewed by MTV
showing artwork of him in homage to Spears. Onch's YouTube channel also posted videos of appearances which were later removed.
and was asked by MTV
pioneering vlog
ger and news staffer Matt Sunbulli to provide video for MTV's website which also broadcasts on MTV itself. Crocker has indicated that he hopes to develop his acting career and has agreed to develop ideas for a TV show with Los Angeles
producer Glenn Meehan and has met with representatives from MTV's gay-themed channel LOGO
. According to Variety
, Crocker has signed a development deal with 44 Blue Productions
to create a "docusoap" reality television
show, which will be called Chris Crocker's 15 Minutes More. Said Rasha Drachkovitch, the production company's co-founder: "It's going to pretty much be the Chris Crocker experience. We consider him a rebel character that people will find interesting. He's going to be a TV star."
After the widespread recognition of Leave Britney Alone, Crocker has been involved in several projects. In a June 2007 autobiographical comic strip
, where Crocker discusses future plans, he states, "I'm going to make the leap from living with my Pentecostal grandparents to living with drag queen
roommates. I'm going to star in my own TV show. I'm going to make the leap from outhouse
s to bathhouse
s...to my very own house." In October 2007, Crocker opened Fox Reality channel's "Reality Remix
Really Awards".
Crocker was one of Lily Allen
's Internet correspondents on the February 2008 premiere episode of BBC
's Lily Allen and Friends
where he posed questions for the guest celebrities, in this case David Mitchell
and later, Cuba Gooding, Jr.
In an April 9, 2008 video blog Crocker announced he refused the television network's offer to star in his own show on the grounds that it would be censor
ed. Crocker was outraged and refused the deal and claimed he would continue to post his videos on YouTube.com in an effort to draw in more viewers to the video hosting web site."
On May 23, 2008 rock band Weezer
released a viral music video
for their song "Pork and Beans
" – "a natural anthem for the self-expression that's been taking shape on YouTube" – which featured various mash-up
s of viral video
s and Youtube celebrities, including Crocker, all playing themselves. On May 22, 2009 Crocker made a video showing a Grammy plaque that he received for his contribution to the band's video.
On July 25, 2008 Crocker posted a video, "www.MsChrisCrocker.Com", in which he states he is leaving YouTube
citing issues of censorship from YouTube for removing him from the most viewed and talked about lists and excluding him from their events. Despite this statement, he has since returned to using YouTube as a means for publishing videos. In August 2008, Crocker was featured in a Sierra Mist
commercial. On July 9, 2009 Crocker appeared on the Comedy Central
show Tosh.0
.
Dance Charts. Crocker also confirmed a music video for "I Want Your Bite", which will be released in March 2011.
On August 29, 2010, Crocker announced via a YouTube
video, titled "Me 2 u. [A lil' update]" that he will be "self releasing" his own album
in 2011. However, recording will take place in 2010. The album later was pushed back and instead Crocker announced his first EP titled "The First Bite
". The EP will include "Freak Of Nature", "I Want Your Bite" as well as three completely new songs. "The First Bite" was released digitally
on iTunes on March 19, 2011. Crocker released a preview video for his EP on March 15, 2011 and a full song titled "One Day" on 17 March, 2011 on YouTube. On 7 August, Crocker's new song Tug of War was released. His new single, "Taking My Life Back" was released on November 1, 2011.
to appear in an adult film.
and Myspace
and has sometimes also removed videos or renamed them. In 2008 he also launched his own website which also hosted his work. As of October 2010, he has 63 videos on his MySpace page and 246 on YouTube.
Internet celebrity
An Internet celebrity, cyberstar or online celebrity is someone who has become famous by means of the Internet. Such fame is based less upon raw numbers, as with traditional media...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, and recording artist. Crocker gained international fame in September 2007 from his viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
"Leave Britney Alone", in which he tearfully defended pop singer Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
's comeback performance at the MTV Video Music Awards
2007 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year, took place on September 9, in Las Vegas at The Palms. The 2007 VMAs were the smallest VMAs ever held in MTV history, eliminating 13 awards, re-naming many of the remaining awards, and having only four...
; his video had over four million views in two days. The video received international media attention, hundreds of parodies and criticism for Crocker.
He is a self-described "edutainer
Edutainment
Edutainment is a form of entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse.-Overview:...
" who produces and acts in multiple videos. In almost all of Crocker's work he presents himself as an openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and effeminate
Effeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
Southern adolescent in a "small-minded town" in the Bible Belt
Bible Belt
Bible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average.The...
where his sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and outspokenness are a "subtext... rarely addressed directly and never completely accepted." The Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
-based Crocker, a stage name, keeps his identity and exact location private because according to him, and as seen in the public comments to his work; there were safety concerns and death threats in response to his YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
video blogs and profile. According to his MySpace profile, Crocker lived in Los Angeles as of January 2008. As of May 2010, Crocker has returned home to Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and solely travels to Los Angeles for business ventures.
His work consists mainly of short-form self-directed monologues shot in his grandparents' home. , Crocker's videos have received a combined 50 million plays on MySpace, and his vlog channel on YouTube is the 100th most viewed of all time in all categories, with over 205 million video views. Crocker's detractors and critics have accused him of narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
, melodramatics, histrionics, and using Spears' personal shortcomings to bolster his own fame. Others have accused Crocker of acting in the "Leave Britney Alone" video, although he insisted it was genuine on a September 2007 appearance on Maury Povich
Maury Povich
Maurice Richard "Maury" Povich is an American TV talk show host who currently hosts his self-titled talk show Maury.-Personal background:...
's Maury
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...
show.
Early life
Crocker was born in Eastern Tennessee to a teenage couple and was raised by his grandparents. Crocker said he "raised eyebrows" by bringing BarbieBarbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
dolls to kindergarten for show and tell
Show and tell (education)
Show and tell is the process of showing an audience something and telling them about it, predominantly in North America and also popular in Australia. It is usually done in a classroom as an early elementary school technique for teaching young children the skills of public speaking...
rather than the toys or action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
s usually associated with boys. He lived in Eastern Tennessee and was homeschooled
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
in response to constant "death threats, bullying and glares at his clothes and makeup" specifically after allegedly being "harassed by a homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
high school gym coach". Crocker lived with his fundamentalist
Fundamentalist Christianity
Christian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
grandparents who continued raising him when his teenage parents were not able; while his grandfather reportedly knows little about his Internet fame, his grandmother has reluctantly appeared in some of his videos.
Career
Crocker's uncensored and "unfiltered" work has been attributed to his isolation as an "effeminateEffeminacy
Effeminacy describes traits in a human male, that are more often associated with traditional feminine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or gender roles rather than masculine nature, behaviour, mannerisms, style or roles....
, Southern, flamboyantly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
" adolescent in a "small-minded town" in the Bible Belt. His sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and outspokenness have been described as a "subtext... rarely addressed directly and never completely accepted" in his hometown. According to Crocker, when his grandmother found out that he was gay, she initially "said that [he] needed an exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
". Crocker, who laments his town's lack of gay culture
LGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
, said, "The only gay pride parade where I live is in my bedroom" as he held up a rainbow frosted cupcake. He added, "We don't have pride and rainbows
Rainbow flag (LGBT movement)
The rainbow flag, sometimes pride flag, LGBT pride flag or gay pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colours reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride in...
here. We have MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. We don't have bathhouses
Gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steam baths, are commercial bathhouses for men to have sex with other men. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths" or "the tubs," and should not be confused with public bathing.Not all men who visit gay...
, we have outhouses."
Crocker's earliest experience with online networking was as an editor of an e-zine
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
, where he met his first boyfriend, with whom he was only able to interact online and by phone. Crocker later found another online forum, where his acting skills helped him blend in on a free phone party line run out of Los Angeles "filled with flaming black men, black drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
s, and trannies
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
from Compton
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...
", where he was outed as white and dubbed "Cracker
Cracker (pejorative)
Cracker, sometimes white cracker, is a pejorative term for white people. It is an ethnic slur that is especially used for the white inhabitants of the U.S. states of Georgia and Florida , but it is also used throughout the United States.-Etymology:One theory holds that the term comes from the...
". In June 2006, after years of experience on the Internet, Crocker started uploading self-produced videos, characterized as his "singularly bizarre and angry take on gay life and his intolerant
Toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
town".
Building a following
Although his chart-topping video defending Britney Spears drew the attention of the wider public, Crocker had already become one of the most-watched video producers on MySpace and YouTube, having gathered what MSNBCMSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
described as a "cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
". Prior to Crocker's defense of Spears, some of the more than sixty videos he had posted to the two social networking websites had already been viewed more than a million times each, and his YouTube channel was in the top rankings. In May 2007, Crocker was the subject of a lengthy profile in the Seattle alternative weekly
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
.
In addition to the "Leave Britney Alone" videos Crocker has produced and posted dozens of others with over fifty posted on both MySpace and YouTube, although some are only posted on one site or the other, many becoming "viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
hits". Some consider them to be bold and seething "flares sent up by a young gay man marooned in a sea of rednecks" who is stuck in a small town that "can't tolerate
Toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and punishes flamboyance." Crocker's videos include "sex-filled confessions" and "wild monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
s" talking "about everything from AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
to pubic hair." In many of the videos he portrays characters, such as an older deeply religious woman in the "The Earl Annie Edna show" series and exaggerated comic characterizations of Southern stereotypes earning comparisons to Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
and being called "an insidious satiric
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
mastermind".
"Leave Britney Alone!"
Crocker is best known for his Britney Spears videos, posted to YouTube in September 2007. The first part of the infamous work though was posted September 9, 2007 called "Leave Britney Alone pt.1" to his MyspaceMyspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page, while the better-known "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!" (part 2) was posted to both MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. In "Leave Britney Alone pt.1", an emotional Crocker stated that he did not want fellow Southerner and gay icon
Gay icon
A gay icon is a public figure who is embraced by many within :lesbian, :gay, :bisexual and :transgender communities...
Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
to spiral out of control like Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole Smith
In 1992 Smith was chosen by Hugh Hefner to appear on the cover of the March issue of Playboy, where she was listed as Vickie Smith, wearing a low-cut evening gown. The centerfold was photographed by Stephen Wayda. Smith said she planned to be "the next Marilyn Monroe". Becoming one of Playboys...
, who had died in February 2007. , the video had been viewed over 35 million times and has accumulated a total of over 500,000 comments. It is just a few seconds shorter than the second part, and Crocker, although emotional, remains relatively calm and composed, becoming teary only at the very end.
In the videos, Crocker lashes out at gossip columnists such as Perez Hilton
Perez Hilton
Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. , better known as Perez Hilton , is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, Perezhilton.com , is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities...
, and at reality TV
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
star Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
, who criticized Britney Spears' onstage music performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards
2007 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year, took place on September 9, in Las Vegas at The Palms. The 2007 VMAs were the smallest VMAs ever held in MTV history, eliminating 13 awards, re-naming many of the remaining awards, and having only four...
in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. Within the first 24 hours of its posting, the video had accumulated over 2 million views. , it has accumulated a total of 24 million views and is the second most discussed video of all time on the site (in all categories), with over 350,000 comments. "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!" is one of YouTube's fastest "climbing" videos, reaching the minimum seven million views needed to be included in the "Top 100". The video was nominated in the Commentary category in the 2007 YouTube Awards
YouTube Awards
The YouTube Awards are awards given out as formalizedic or comedy genres, as voted by the YouTube community. The awards were organized in 2007 to "call out some of the most popular videos and let the users choose which ones deserve some additional recognition"...
. The video received worldwide attention and earned Crocker interviews on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox News, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, The Today Show, Maury
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...
, The Howard Stern Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
's KIIS-FM
KIIS-FM
KIIS-FM is a Los Angeles, California, USA-based radio station with a partial Top 40 musical format. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. KIIS is also simulcasted on KVVS in Rosamond, at 105.5 MHz...
morning show. Crocker and his video were also commented on in the mainstream media by shows like The View and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. YouTube said "the melodramatic two-minute clip made Crocker an instant YouTube star" and named it one of the top videos of 2007. Wired magazine named it the top video of 2007.
Although sometimes shown in conjunction with news footage of Spears' performance, the "pure performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
" video has become its own story, with the news media and gossip industry offering opinions on the phenomenon and even joking that Crocker could be "an insidious satiric
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
mastermind" and compared him to Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
. In the video, Crocker proclaims, "All you people care about is readers and making money off of her. She's a human! Leave Britney alone!" Crocker stated that although he is often acting in his videos, his emotions were genuine and "straight from the heart"; although he described the clip as a "second take" in one interview, he clarified on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
that he meant that it was the second part of a longer video, the first part being "Leave Britney Alone pt. 1".
The "LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!" video became a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
target with parody videos as well as references in mainstream television spoofs, and films. Actor Seth Green
Seth Green
Seth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...
's parody, which included him applying eyeliner several times and promoting his show Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...
, called for people to "leave Chris Crocker alone!" Some video responses characterized Crocker as a drama queen and, Wired magazine noted, "sent world Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd and Swedish as skadeglädje....
levels zooming to heights unseen since the Fatty Arbuckle
Fatty Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd...
scandal."
The January 2008 parody film Meet the Spartans
Meet the Spartans
Meet the Spartans is a 2008 parody film directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Similar to past movies, such as Scary Movie, Date Movie, and most recently Epic Movie, it directs parodies at various films. Although it references many movies, TV shows, people and pop cultural events, it...
used pop culture references and met with generally poor reviews; the Electronic Urban Report called Crocker's cameo the "film's funniest moment". Both Crocker and the video were also parodied in the South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode "Canada on Strike" with a cartoon Crocker running around in a fight between various Internet meme
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...
s, telling them to "leave the others alone". In March 2008, a "trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
" dance single "Leave Britney Alone" was released on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and other sites by "Double J" featuring quotes from Crocker's video.
On the Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana is an American television series, which debuted on March 24, 2006 on the Disney Channel. The series focuses on a girl who lives a double life as an average teenage school girl named Miley Stewart by day and a famous pop singer named Hannah Montana by night, concealing her real...
episode, "Welcome to the Bungle", when Lilly phones the journalists to tell them to leave Hannah alone, she accidentally shouts "Leave Britney alone!". Miley questions "Britney?" and Lilly corrects herself by responding, "Oh, oh, sorry, my bad.. 'Leave Hannah alone!'".
While numerous news and media outlets reported on the viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
, Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
's morning program Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends
Fox & Friends is an American morning television show on the Fox News Channel.-History:The show begins at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the latest Fox News Live headlines and analyzes the news of the morning...
commentators questioned his gender and compared the fabric backdrop in his video to Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's videos. Crocker produced two response videos – Poor FOX "News".. and Rosie O'Donnell was right about FOX "News" (originally posted as "Dear Fox 'News'") – addressing what he characterized as bias
Bias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
ed treatment while he called Fox News the "Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, conservative, homophobic
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
channel". Crocker's stated concerns were the commentators calling him a "she/he" and what he felt was their needless questioning of his gender instead of commenting on the content of his video.
Crocker's video was referenced in an episode of American TV series Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
, "Britney/Brittany
Britney/Brittany
"Britney/Brittany" is the second episode of the second season of the American television series Glee, and the 24th episode overall. Written and directed by series creator Ryan Murphy, it premiered on the Fox network on September 28, 2010, and pays tribute to Britney Spears...
", in which Brittany Pierce tells the glee club she does not want to perform Britney Spears' music because she feels she has been overshadowed by her fame due to the similarity in their names. Kurt is angry at Brittany, but Santana replies, "Leave Brittany alone!"
Onch promotional deal and lawsuit
In October 2007 TMZ.comTMZ.com
TMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...
reported that Crocker was being sued by Onch Movement Jewelry for 1 million dollars, for fraud and breach of contract and provided a copy of the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles. Jewelry designer Nelson Chung, professionally known as Onch and a fan of Crocker, hired him as a celebrity spokesmodel for more than two days' worth of publicity work as well as appearance at World of Wonder's Just Britney
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
art show in exchange for airfare. It was speculated by DMW Media that Crocker had no legal representative as the agreement seemed unbalanced. Crocker did make appearances including at gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
club Rage and the art show where he was interviewed by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
showing artwork of him in homage to Spears. Onch's YouTube channel also posted videos of appearances which were later removed.
Mainstream media exposure
Prior to the attention from his September 2007 Leave Britney Alone video, Crocker was seen as viralViral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
and was asked by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
pioneering vlog
Vlog
Video blogging, sometimes shortened to vlogging or vidding or vidblogging is a form of blogging for which the medium is video, and is a form of Web television. Entries often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one take...
ger and news staffer Matt Sunbulli to provide video for MTV's website which also broadcasts on MTV itself. Crocker has indicated that he hopes to develop his acting career and has agreed to develop ideas for a TV show with Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
producer Glenn Meehan and has met with representatives from MTV's gay-themed channel LOGO
Logo (TV channel)
Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
. According to Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Crocker has signed a development deal with 44 Blue Productions
44 Blue Productions
44 Blue Productions is a production company founded in 1984 by Rasha and Stephanie Drachkovitch. 44 Blue is a top supplier of reality, documentary, lifestyle and action-adventure programming producing more than 1000 hours for leading US broadcast and cable outlets including A&E, Animal Planet, HBO,...
to create a "docusoap" reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show, which will be called Chris Crocker's 15 Minutes More. Said Rasha Drachkovitch, the production company's co-founder: "It's going to pretty much be the Chris Crocker experience. We consider him a rebel character that people will find interesting. He's going to be a TV star."
Post-meme career
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, where Crocker discusses future plans, he states, "I'm going to make the leap from living with my Pentecostal grandparents to living with drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
roommates. I'm going to star in my own TV show. I'm going to make the leap from outhouse
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
s to bathhouse
Gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steam baths, are commercial bathhouses for men to have sex with other men. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths" or "the tubs," and should not be confused with public bathing.Not all men who visit gay...
s...to my very own house." In October 2007, Crocker opened Fox Reality channel's "Reality Remix
Reality Remix
Reality Remix is a daily, half-hour show that recaps what's occurring in the world of reality television. It is one of the original shows on the Fox Reality Channel. Reality Remix was hosted by former MTV veejay Lisa Kennedy Montgomery. However, it featured a number of correspondents...
Really Awards".
Crocker was one of Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
's Internet correspondents on the February 2008 premiere episode of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Lily Allen and Friends
Lily Allen and Friends
Lily Allen and Friends is a British TV talk show presented by Lily Allen. The programme is produced by Princess Productions for BBC Three. It was first shown on 12 February 2008. The audience consists entirely of Lily's online friends, who sign up via the programme's website...
where he posed questions for the guest celebrities, in this case David Mitchell
David Mitchell (actor)
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...
and later, Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Cuba M. Gooding, Jr. is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Rod Tidwell in Cameron Crowe's 1996 film Jerry Maguire, and his critically acclaimed performance as Tré Styles in John Singleton's 1991 film Boyz n the Hood.-Early life:Gooding was born...
In an April 9, 2008 video blog Crocker announced he refused the television network's offer to star in his own show on the grounds that it would be censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
ed. Crocker was outraged and refused the deal and claimed he would continue to post his videos on YouTube.com in an effort to draw in more viewers to the video hosting web site."
On May 23, 2008 rock band Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
released a viral music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for their song "Pork and Beans
Pork and Beans (song)
"Pork and Beans" is a song by the American alternative rock band Weezer, released on its 2008 album Weezer. It was released in digital form on April 24, 2008. The track debuted at number 19 on Billboards Modern Rock chart, and spent eleven weeks at number one. Critics generally liked the song,...
" – "a natural anthem for the self-expression that's been taking shape on YouTube" – which featured various mash-up
Mashup (video)
A video mashup is the combination of multiple sources of video—which usually have no relation with each other—into a derivative work, often lampooning its component sources or another text. Many mashup videos are humorous movie trailer parodies, a later genre of mashups gaining much popularity...
s of viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
s and Youtube celebrities, including Crocker, all playing themselves. On May 22, 2009 Crocker made a video showing a Grammy plaque that he received for his contribution to the band's video.
On July 25, 2008 Crocker posted a video, "www.MsChrisCrocker.Com", in which he states he is leaving YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
citing issues of censorship from YouTube for removing him from the most viewed and talked about lists and excluding him from their events. Despite this statement, he has since returned to using YouTube as a means for publishing videos. In August 2008, Crocker was featured in a Sierra Mist
Sierra Mist
Sierra Mist is a lemon-lime flavored caffeine-free soft drink, introduced by PepsiCo in 2000 and rolled out nationally in the United States in 2003. PepsiCo owns the rights to the similar 7 Up brand outside the U.S...
commercial. On July 9, 2009 Crocker appeared on the Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
show Tosh.0
Tosh.0
Tosh.0 is an American television series hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh, who provides sarcastic commentary on online video clips, society, celebrities, and other parts of popular culture.-History:...
.
Music
In September 2008, Crocker kicked off a music career when he released his debut single "Mind in the Gutter". The song was initially meant to be the lead single from his unreleased debut album, Turned On. In March 2009, Crocker leaked an unreleased song entitled "Fell for the Enemy". After the leaking of "Fell For the Enemy", Crocker did not return to the music business for awhile, stating he felt as though producers saw him as "just another paycheck." However, April 2010 saw the release of Crocker's second single, a ballad titled "Love You Better". The single came in two versions, the studio version as well as an acoustic version. Shortly afterwards, in July of the same year, Crocker's third single, "Best of Both Worlds" was released to generally negative reception. October 13 saw the official release of "Fell For the Enemy", the song Crocker had previously leaked online. The following month, Crocker released his fifth single, "Freak of Nature". In January 2011, Crocker released his first music video, for his latest song "Freak of Nature" and in February, Crocker released "I Want Your Bite", which peaked at #12 on the iTunesITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Dance Charts. Crocker also confirmed a music video for "I Want Your Bite", which will be released in March 2011.
On August 29, 2010, Crocker announced via a YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video, titled "Me 2 u. [A lil' update]" that he will be "self releasing" his own album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
in 2011. However, recording will take place in 2010. The album later was pushed back and instead Crocker announced his first EP titled "The First Bite
The First Bite
The First Bite is the first extended play by the American singer-songwriter Chris Crocker, released on March 19, 2011. The EP consists of two singles and three unreleased songs. The first single "Freak of Nature" was released on November 30, 2010....
". The EP will include "Freak Of Nature", "I Want Your Bite" as well as three completely new songs. "The First Bite" was released digitally
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on iTunes on March 19, 2011. Crocker released a preview video for his EP on March 15, 2011 and a full song titled "One Day" on 17 March, 2011 on YouTube. On 7 August, Crocker's new song Tug of War was released. His new single, "Taking My Life Back" was released on November 1, 2011.
Adult Film
In July 2011 it was announced that Crocker had been signed by Chi Chi LaRueChi Chi LaRue
Larry David Paciotti is an American film director of gay, bisexual and straight pornography. He is best known in his drag persona as Chi Chi LaRue and has also directed under the names Lawrence David and Taylor Hudson.- Career :...
to appear in an adult film.
Selected videography
Crocker has posted dozens of videos, often to both YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and has sometimes also removed videos or renamed them. In 2008 he also launched his own website which also hosted his work. As of October 2010, he has 63 videos on his MySpace page and 246 on YouTube.
- "This & that." was posted December 28, 2006 to Myspace and February 25, 2007 to YouTube. Crocker's first video, where he starts very serenely then quickly escalates yelling "You wanna fight me?" in a menacing manner while revealing his scrawny chest belying the absurdity "that anyone would see this waifWaifA waif is a living creature removed, by hardship, loss or other helpless circumstance, from his original surroundings...
y kid as a threat worthy of violence." This has been interpreted as a "brilliant way of mockMockMock may refer to:* In geography: Mock, California, in Inyo County* In programming: Virtual mock or Mock object, simulated objects that mimics the behavior of real objects in controlled ways* In mathematics: Mock modular form, mathematical function...
ing his virtual haters" but can also be seen as a fantasy fight that he could only win in a virtualVirtualThe term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....
world because of his obvious diminutive stature. The video was hosted on Salon.com and remains one of his most popular with over 3.9 million views and over 30,000 comments as of May 2009.
- "Bitch, please!" was posted December 29, 2006 to MySpace and February 25, 2007 to YouTube. One of Crocker's first videos to receive over a million viewers showed Crocker's self-assuredness as he offers increasingly angryAngerAnger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....
versions of the phrase Bitch, please "complete with hair flips, bared teeth, and hand gestures." The video has had over five million views and nearly 30,000 comments as of June 2008.
- "Watch it." was posted January 24, 2007 to Myspace. One of Crocker's shortest videos at just 1:25 minutes features him dancing erotically and provocatively to Nivea'sNivea (singer)Nivea B. Nash who performs under the mononym Nivea, is an American recording artist whose recordings reached the Billboard charts during the early 2000s. Nivea is known most for her singles "Don't Mess With My Man" and "Laundromat".-Early life:Hamilton was born in Savannah, Georgia, the youngest...
"Watch ItAnimalisticAnimalistic is the third studio album by American singer Nivea. It was released only in Japan on November 15, 2006 by Formula Recordings, led by the single "Watch It."-Track listing:...
". The video has over 1.4 million views and nearly 7,000 comments as of March 2008. Likewise "Chris Crocker is Damaged!", posted March 4, 2008 to YouTube, shows him dancing to Danity KaneDanity KaneDanity Kane was an American female music group signed to Bad Boy Records, first established in 2005. Formed on the third installment of MTV's Making the Band reality television series, the quintet comprised members Aubrey O'Day, Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgett, Shannon Bex, Dawn Richard, and Aundrea...
's "DamagedDamaged (Danity Kane song)"Damaged" is a dance-pop song by American R&B group Danity Kane. It was written by Justin Walker, Sean Combs, Mario Winans, Jonathan Yip, Jeremy Reeves, Micayle McKinney, Ray Romulos, Shannon "Slam" Lawrence, Rose Marie Tan, and James Smith...
" and has nearly 2.8 million views and over 34,000 comments as of June 2008.
- "Why I'm Gay.." was posted August 10, 2007 to both YouTube and MySpace. Crocker discusses why he has no need to "come outComing outComing out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
" of the closet as gayGayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
. The video was hosted on Salon.com and has had over 1.2 million views and nearly 12,000 comments as of September 2007.
- "Kids SHOULD Cuss" was posted August 23, 2007 to YouTube. Crocker discusses languageLanguageLanguage may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
and the use of curseCurseA curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
words like fuckFuck"Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
asking "why is shitShitShit is usually considered vulgar and profane in Modern English. As a noun it refers to fecal matter and as a verb it means to defecate or defecate in; in the plural it means diarrhea...
more profane than poopFecesFeces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
?" He ties the discussion to free speechFreedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
and encourages everyone to use swear words and teach them to children to ensure freedom of speech is assured. The video was hosted on Salon.com and has had over 427,000 views as of September 2007, it was subsequently removed by Crocker.
- "Back up, Britney haters!" was posted September 1, 2007 to YouTube. Crocker's first major departure from describing his gay life in a Bible BeltBible BeltBible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average.The...
town and instead on Britney SpearsBritney SpearsBritney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
which he thought would be poorly received by his fans. From a floor covered in Spears-related magazines and memorabilia Crocker asserts he is "a real Britney fan". The video has nearly 2.7 million views as of October 2010.
- "Britney, this is for you" was posted September 3, 2007 to YouTube. Crocker pays homage to Spears' recently released single Gimme MoreGimme More"Gimme More" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears from her fifth studio album, Blackout. It was released on September 27, 2007 by Jive Records as the lead single of the album. The song was written by Jim Beanz, Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica, Nate "Danja" Hills and Keri Hilson...
. Just two days after his first video about Spears this precedes his most known video Leave Britney Alone by eight days. The video has been viewed over 4.1 million times and received over 55,000 comments as of January 2008.
- "Watch Chris Crocker blink." originally titled "Best video EVER!" was posted March 17, 2008 to YouTube. One of the shortest viral videos – at less than five seconds long – and likely the shortest one Crocker has ever posted shows a close-up of just his face as he smiles into the camera and blinkBlinkBlinking is the rapid closing and opening of the eyelid. It is an essential function of the eye that helps spread tears across and remove irritants from the surface of the cornea and conjunctiva. Blink speed can be affected by elements such as fatigue, eye injury, medication, and disease...
s twice. The "unwitting Andy WarholAndy WarholAndrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
homage" (see 15 minutes of fame15 minutes of fame15 minutes of fame is short-lived, often ephemeral, media publicity or celebrity of an individual or phenomenon. The expression was coined by Andy Warhol, who said in 1968 that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." The phenomenon is often used in reference to...
) was explained by Crocker that he need only "blink to get the video views I do." The video was viewed over a million times in the first two days and nearly 6.8 million times and received over 70,000 comments as of November 2010.
See also
- Celebrity brandingCelebrity brandingCelebrity branding is a type of branding, or advertising, in which a celebrity uses his or her status in society to promote a product, service or charity...
- Famous for being famousFamous for being famousFamous for being famous, in popular culture terminology, refers to someone who attains celebrity status for no particular identifiable reason, or who achieves fame through association with a celebrity. The term is a pejorative, suggesting that the individual has no particular talents or abilities...
- Gender-bender
- Tila Tequila
- Viral marketingViral marketingViral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...