Chris Crocker Says He Was Shamed for his 'Leave Britney Alone' Video

The New York Times documentary "Framing Britney Spears" (streaming on Hulu) has many reconsidering the way the pop singer was treated in the media during her very public struggles some 15 years ago. "It is slowly becoming conventional wisdom that the way mainstream media talked about Britney Spears in 2007, as she went through a public breakdown, was inappropriate and wrong. Major news outlets called Spears fat, slut-shamed her, reprinted paparazzi upskirt shots, and mocked her for her increasingly erratic public behavior," writes Vox.

But not only is it bringing to life the callous way Spears was treated by television journalists, late-night talk hosts and stand-up comics, it also has returned focus on Chris Crocker, who in 2007 became an overnight sensation with his "Leave Britney Alone" video.

"The 2007 video featured a 19-year-old Crocker passionately defending Britney. While the video quickly spread online and propelled Crocker into the spotlight, most of the coverage and fanfare surrounding the video was at the expense of Crocker. He became a figure that was repeatedly mocked online and in the media," writes the adult male website The Sword.

14 years later many are seeing Crocker's plea and video differently and are flooding social media with messages that he was right.

But Crocker, The OnlyFans and retired adult performer, is taking it further in a lengthy Instagram post that states the reason he wasn't taken seriously was because he was "a gender-bending teenager and the reaction to me was transphobic." He goes on to say that he had to fear for his life when death threats were made to his grandmother's house. "I was already living in the south as a gender-bending teenager with no money or ways of feeling protected. "

And the hate was coming from all sides. "The hate was also directed towards me by other LGBT people. Not just verbal, but physical attacks were made towards me at gay bars and out in the streets. (By LGBT people who were embarrassed of me because of the way the media made fun of me. Which made them feel I gave them a bad name.) This was during a pre-Drag Race time, before everyone & their mom was saying 'Yass queen!'. It was a time of only embracing the HETERONORMATIVE people in media."

He concluded with: "I hope not only Britney gets the freedom she deserves, but the Femme queer people are not tortured in the media when showcasing humanity."