Defending Britney On YouTube Leads To Fame

Tennessee Teen Hopes To Find TV Stardom After "Leave Britney Alone" Video

(CBS/AP)  While mascara was runnning down Chris Crocker's cheeks from the tears he shed in Britney Spears' defense on YouTube, little did he know that he would soon be shedding tears of joy over the launch of his own career as a reality television star.

Croker has been called "queer," "a human train wreck," the "Britney guy," an androgynous "it" and much, much worse.

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Photos: Britney Spears

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But how does this 19-year-old Internet phenomenon, known worldwide for his tearful YouTube defense of Britney Spears, define himself?

"I'm the key to world peace," says Crocker, sporting a sleeveless black T-shirt with a hot pink silhouette of Marilyn Monroe. His blond bob is swept behind an ear and the eye liner is, as always, flawless.

World peace aside, the teenager has captured millions of viewers on MySpace and YouTube with his passionate, campy and sometimes furious monologues about life.

Crocker, which is a stage name, has earned a cult following since he started posting video blogs a year ago. But it was "Leave Britney Alone" - a profane, smeared-mascara answer to critics of Spears' performance on the MTV Video Music Awards - that earned him instant fame and 8 million YouTube clicks.

"You're lucky she even performed for you!" he screams. "If anybody has a problem with her, you deal with me!"

Since then he's been featured on late night, cable and network news and in scores of radio shows. The video itself has been parodied by dozens of other YouTube users, most famously by actor Seth Green.

And Crocker has done it all from his bedroom in his grandparents' home in eastern Tennessee. (He asked The Associated Press not to reveal his real name or exact hometown because his critics can be vicious, and he doesn't want anyone to know where he lives.)

Earlier this year, Crocker signed a development deal for a reality TV show that originally was intended to be filmed in his hometown, but now he thinks it may be time to leave.

It's tough to be openly gay in a conservative Southern town, he says. There have always been death threats, bullying and glares at his clothes and makeup. Oh, and he's always pushing someone's buttons.

"My grandparents can't go to their church any more," said Crocker, his spunk clouded momentarily with genuine concern.

He's fiercely protective of his grandparents, Pentecostal Christians who took over raising him when his teenage parents couldn't. Crocker said his outrageous behavior, a stark contrast to the rest of the family, started when he was in kindergarten. He raised eyebrows back then for bringing Barbie dolls to class for show-and-tell.

"What I do affects them, and I feel bad for that," he said of his family.

Crocker's grandmother, who declined to be interviewed, is seen in a handful of his videos, appearing as an uncomfortable bystander. In one, Crocker is imitating a Christian woman interviewing his grandmother, who says she loves her grandson. In another, his grandmother is patiently arguing with him over his attitude.

Crocker said that when she agreed to be taped, "she didn't really grasp the size of the audience."

Since August, Crocker and 44 Blue Productions, a Studio City, Calif., firm specializing in documentaries and reality programming, have been pitching shows to several networks, including MTV and LOGO, a gay and lesbian channel. Crocker signed on with 44 Blue in May.

"Chris first got on our radar a year ago," Rasha Drachkovitch, president and co-founder of 44 Blue, said in a statement. 44 Blue considers Crocker "a rebel character that people will find interesting. He's going to be a TV star."

But Crocker said there wasn't much interest in him as a reality TV star - until the "Leave Britney Alone" video hit.

"It's just sad to me it takes a Britney video" to generate mainstream interest, he said.

He initially wasn't even going to post the Britney video, fearing that it would turn off his usual audience.

"They're not used to me talking about celebrities," he said. "I'm glad I posted it now, though, because I'm just giving Britney fans a voice."

Crocker sees Spears as a role model and says they have plenty in common: They're both Southerners, performers and "easy targets."

Most important to Crocker, he and Spears are both Sagittarians, the "entertainers" of the Zodiac. (Crocker had some serious reservations about being interviewed by a Capricorn for this story.)

If his proposed "Complaining with Chris Crocker" show is ever launched, he would love to host Spears. "I always say Britney's been my mom ... Britney's been there for me when my parents haven't," he said.

With all this talk of Spears, have the two actually met or even chatted?

Crocker coyly answered, "I can't say."

[dylanxxv]

IT thinks IT''s a star when people are really laughing at IT and making fun of IT...The reality shows have really hit bottom to have something like this puke as the star...

[mythoughtsr]

What is supposed to pass for entertainment these days amazes me really. It''s articles like this that remind me of why I really don''t watch television anymore. Sure, I watch educational programs and the occasional thriller, but they are things with SUBSTANCE. I actually clicked on the article because that boy looked like a female 80s figure I thought I recognized. What a sick and twisted person and to put something like that on television is lame and boring. Britney is a waste of space, deserves to have her children taken away from her and her career put on hold while she takes care of the children she brought into this world, not to be defended by some weirdo who thinks what she does is OK. How pathetic what this world has become.

[kevzgrl]

And the sad part is, there are people stupid enough and pathetic enough to keep going to YouTube to watch this walking trash heap defend another walking trash heap. AND, will pay a lot of money to subscribe to the cable channels that will carry the stupid rants this person puts on.

I feel sorry for his grandparents, though - has to be horrible to know that you raised something like this. Should have let his teen-aged parents keep him - maybe they wouldn''t have had enough money to buy him the mascara or the computer. Someone should have cut off his power source a long time ago.....

[cherryfries]

Are his 15 minutes of fame up yet? He can go back to the basement of his grandparent''s house. See him on Maury yesterday? Definately laughable and this is all a plea for attention.

[likeitis5050]

Grinning because he''s a freak known world-wide now. Good grief. Don''t people even have sense enough to know when they are being laughed AT anymore? This guy is authentic...authentic lunatic.