Chris Crocker

Chris Crocker (born December 1987) is an American internet celebrity and self-described «edutainer» who produces and acts in transgressive videos.Almost all of Crocker’s work has been attributed to his being 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 are safety concerns and death threats in response to his YouTube and MySpace vlogs and profile. According to his MySpace profile, Crocker lives in Los Angeles as of January 2008.

His work consists mainly of short-form self-directed «monologues about life» shot in his grandparents’ home. As of March 2008, Crocker’s videos have received a combined 45.8 million plays on MySpace, and his vlog channel on YouTube is the 18th most viewed of all time in all categories, with over 153 million views. Although he has produced dozens of videos, Crocker gained international fame from his viral video tearfully defending pop singer Britney Spears’s «lackluster MTV comeback» with over four million views in two days. The video received international media attention, hundreds of parodies and criticism for the performer.

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.

In September 2007 Variety magazine revealed Crocker had signed a development deal with 44 Blue Productions to star in a documentary-style reality television show.