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- Chris Crocker, the creator of the iconic "Leave Britney Alone" viral video, sold it as an NFT.
- The auction ended Monday night and the NFT sold for 18.69 ETH, equating to over $41,000.
- Crocker told Insider they would use the money to care for their grandma and fund their transition.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Chris Crocker, the creator of the iconic "Leave Britney Alone" viral video, auctioned off the original 2007 footage as an NFT, or non-fungible token. The bidding for the NFT, a unique digital asset purchased with cryptocurrency, ended Monday night, selling for 18.69 ETH (currently equating to over $41,000) to an anonymous buyer
The video, in which Crocker cried and pleaded with tabloids to leave Britney Spears alone, became a major cultural touchstone and early marker of how the internet would spill into the public consciousness. "Leave Britney Alone" is credited as one of the first viral videos on YouTube. Crocker's sale of the famous video as an NFT follows the sales of other viral digital media content, including the Nyan Cat meme, which sold for over $600,000.
In an interview with Insider, Crocker, a content creator and online personality who is now 33, said they wanted to sell the content as a way to reclaim it and its significance, after years of taking "hits" from the frequently parodied and mocked video.
"I felt like a lot of people might misconstrue why I wanted to sell it," Crocker, who rose to fame after the pro-Spears video went viral over a decade ago, said. "But the real reason is because I felt like I took a lot of hits – you know, literal hits," adding that they were "physically assaulted at gay clubs," received death threats, and felt like the gay community was "embarrassed that I was a representation for them."
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Crocker said that there was a misconception that they made money off the original video, being that it was first posted on MySpace and gained millions of views on YouTube, where multiple versions of the video now live. But Crocker says they never made any money off the video, which was not monetized on YouTube.
But now, as digital media NFT sales are sometimes bringing in millions of dollars, Crocker said they felt that this was the moment to get "retroactive" payment for not profiting off the video that changed their life.
"I didn't really get anything from [the video] other than to be put in a box for the next 14 years," Crocker said, adding that they were never able to do anything authentically without being seen as attention-seeking, particularly regarding adult entertainment work.
Crocker said they were curious about the NFT space and spoke with a couple of people in a room on Clubhouse, an invite-only audio-based social-media app, about it. Crocker said they weren't sure how to start the process, and someone in the room suggested they reach out to Ryder Ripps, an artist who recently sold an audio NFT sex tape with his now-ex-girlfriend, Azealia Banks. Ripps helped Crocker upload the file as an NFT, Crocker said.
-Chris Crocker (@ChrisCrocker) April 12, 2021
Crocker said that the money they make from the sale will first go towards helping their grandmother. But, they said, if they end up with additional funds, "I would absolutely put that towards like me being able to become myself" and live openly as a woman. Crocker, who told Insider they identify as transgender, said they want to fully present as a woman. But because they live in a rural, southern town - Bristol, Tennessee - they said they don't feel safe presenting as a woman in public until they can afford a full male-to-female transition. For now, they're "not picky" with pronouns, but mostly use "they/them."
"And that's why I've always been scared to do the baby steps very slowly, because I was like, 'well if I can't afford the full [transition], my safety is really gonna be a concern,'" they said. "People are very backward and I already stick out for being feminine. So I've always thought if I am going to do it and still be here and live around my family, I have to go like, all the way."
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