Cara Cunningham

"Chris Crocker" redirects here. For the athlete, see Chris Crocker (American football).

Cara Cunningham
Cunningham in 2009
Born
Christopher Cunningham

(1987-12-07) December 7, 1987 (age 36)
Bristol, Tennessee, U.S.
Years active2006–present
Known for

Cara Cunningham (formerly Christopher Cunningham and professionally as Chris Crocker; born December 7, 1987) is an American internet personality, recording artist, YouTuber, and former pornographic film actress. As of October 2010, Cunningham's videos had received a combined 50 million plays on MySpace, and her vlog channel on YouTube was the 100th-most viewed of all time in all categories, with over 205 million video views, before Cunningham closed her YouTube account in September 2015.[2][3] Her work consists mainly of short-form, self-directed monologues shot in her grandparents' home.[4]

Cunningham gained fame in September 2007 from her viral video "Leave Britney Alone!", in which she tearfully defended pop singer Britney Spears' comeback performance at the MTV Video Music Awards; the video received over four million views in two days.[5] The video gained international media attention, hundreds of parodies, and criticism for Cunningham,[6][7][8][9] which included accusations of narcissism, melodrama and histrionics, and using Spears' personal shortcomings to bolster her own fame.[10] Others have accused Cunningham of acting in the "Leave Britney Alone!" video, although Cunningham insisted it was genuine on a September 2007 appearance on Maury Povich's Maury show.[11][12][13]

Cunningham produces and acts in her own videos, and is a self-described edutainer.[14][15]

In most of Cunningham's adolescent works, she presents herself as an openly gender non-conforming person and effeminate Southerner in a "small-minded town" in the Bible Belt. During her teenage years, Cunningham used "Crocker" as a stage name in order to keep her identity and location secret, due to death threats she received.[14][16][17] In 2014, Queerty stated that with thousands of Facebook and Twitter followers, Cunningham is "one of those self-invented social media icons".[18]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Internet rant reaps its rewards: Performance was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Tharrett, Matthew (September 16, 2015). "It's The End Of An Era: Chris Crocker Has Deleted his YouTube Channel". NewNowNext.com. Logo TV. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  3. ^ YouTube, LLC (January 16, 2009). "Channels Most Viewed : (All Time)". YouTube. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Crocker hopes to find TV stardom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Ramirez, Ramon (September 13, 2007). "Britney Spears: Bombshell or just plain bomb?". The Daily Texan. Archived from the original on September 15, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  6. ^ "Video: Gay Men's Online War Over Britney Spears". Javno.hr, Croatia. September 12, 2007. Archived from the original on September 16, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  7. ^ Davies, Shaun (September 12, 2007). "Screaming Britney Defense Becomes Net Phenomenon". National Nine News, Australia. Archived from the original on September 15, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  8. ^ Sankey, Daniel (September 12, 2007). "Leave Britney alone!". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  9. ^ Popkin, Helen A.S. (September 13, 2007). "'Leave Britney Alone!': Tear-stained video plea makes YouTube vlogger an Internet rock star". NBC News. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  10. ^ "Me Me Me". The Times (from Esquire). June 8, 2008. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2008.
  11. ^ Manjoo, Farhad (September 12, 2007). "Talking to the "Leave Britney Alone!" guy". Salon.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2007.
  12. ^ Jalees, Sabrina (September 20, 2007). "Britney Proves Awful is The New Awesome". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 22, 2007.
  13. ^ Jupiter, P (September 20, 2007). "Crocker on Maury Povich". The Maury Povich Show. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2007.
  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference thestranger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Nesti, Robert (January 2, 2008). "2007 YouTube Celebrity Trainwrecks". Edge Boston. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference More was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Goldman, Russell (September 12, 2007). "Legions of the Loyal Britney's Fans Defend Her Online". ABC News. Retrieved September 13, 2007.
  18. ^ Baume, Matt (February 7, 2014). "EXCLUSIVE: Chris Crocker Tells All, Describes their Weird Fame, Gender Transition And Porn Plans". Queerty. Retrieved March 13, 2014.