Description
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In September 2007, a 19-year-old in Tennessee filmed a tearful plea for people to back off Britney Spears. It became one of the most mocked videos on the early internet. Fourteen years later, the Free Britney movement and the end of Britney’s conservatorship had people asking why nobody listened.
Frankie Fey looks at what was happening to Britney in 2007, how the video became a punchline on late-night TV, South Park, and Glee, and what its creator, Cara Cunningham (who made the video as Chris Crocker), has said about it since.
▶ FRANKIE FEY
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Sources
Britney Spears, The Woman in Me (Gallery Books, 2023)
Me @ the Zoo (HBO, 2012)
NPR, June 27, 2021: https://www.npr.org/2021/06/27/1010355669/chris-crocker-leave-britney-alone-video-creator-reflects-on-whats-changed
The Tamron Hall Show, Feb. 17, 2021
Business Insider, April 17, 2021: https://www.businessinsider.com/britney-spears-free-britney-chris-crocker-leave-britney-alone-movement-2021-4
Queerty, April 13, 2021: https://www.queerty.com/chris-crocker-sells-leave-britney-alone-video-nft-41000-20210413/
Queerty, Feb. 7, 2014: "Chris Crocker Tells All"
PinkNews, Aug. 19, 2021: https://thepinknews.com/2021/08/19/leave-britney-alone-trans-cara-cunningham/
CNN, June 2021: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/22/entertainment/britney-spears-conservatorship-timeline
CBS News, Oct. 8, 2003: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/britney-bashing-govs-wife-sorry
Variety, Sept. 18, 2007: https://variety.com/2007/digital/features/britney-guy-may-get-tv-gig-1117972243/
The Blast, Oct. 21, 2023: https://theblast.com/548306/britney-spears-reflects-on-grief-during-2007-hair-shaving-incident/
Know Your Meme, "Leave Britney Alone": https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/leave-britney-alone
0:00 Leave Britney Alone
2:30 The video
4:26 Britney's worst year
6:07 A lifetime of scrutiny
8:27 The paparazzi years
9:16 The 2007 VMAs
10:43 Going viral
11:33 Who is Cara Cunningham?
12:57 Life after the video
14:12 Me @ the Zoo
15:21 Free Britney
16:43 Cara was right
18:44 Where things stand now
Hosted by Frankie Fey
Written by Phillip Hamilton
Edited & Produced by Andy Sowar
#LeaveBritneyAlone #FreeBritney