Chris Crocker once called on people to leave Britney Spears alone. Now, more than 13 years later, the influencer is happy the singer's voice is finally being heard.
At a virtual hearing on Wednesday, June 23, the pop star read a lengthy statement by phone calling her 13-year-long court-approved conservatorship "abusive" and "stupid" and requesting that it come to an end without her being evaluated by a therapist. It marked Britney's first public statement about the arrangement, which was first put in place in 2008, after she was hospitalized and received psychiatric treatment, and comes amid an ongoing court battle to remove her father Jamie Spears from his position as joint conservator.
In September 2007, months after Britney first showed signs of personal turmoil in public and after she was heavily criticized for what was expected to be a comeback performance at the MTV VMAs, a 19-year-old Chris tearfully defended the singer in what would later become one of the first viral YouTube videos. Following the star's bombshell statement on Wednesday, the influencer, now 33, weighed in on her current situation.
"I don't feel it's my place to speak on it," Chris said in a TikTok video. "I feel like today is about Britney being able to be heard and what she wants to say and her getting her freedom and her happiness back."
The influencer continued, "It's not about what I or anyone else has to say. It's about Britney's voice being heard and that's what I'm so happy about, is she gets to be heard. No one has to speak for her and I think all we want is for Britney's voice to be heard and for her to have her freedoms, because that's what she deserves."
At Wednesday's hearing, Britney said, regarding her life under conservatorship, "I've been in shock. I am traumatized, you know, fake it till you make it, but now I'm telling you the truth, OK, I'm not happy. I can't sleep. I'm so angry. It's insane. And I'm depressed. I cry every day."
She continued, "I just want my life back and it's been 13 years and it's enough. It's been a long time since I've owned my money, and it's my wish, my dream for all of this to end without being tested again. It makes no sense whatsoever for the state of California to sit back and literally watch me with their own two eyes make a living for so many people and take so many people, trucks and buses, on the road with me and be told I'm not good enough. But I'm great at what I do. And I do not need people to control what I do and it's enough, it makes no sense at all."
Also at Wednesday's court hearing, Jamie's attorney read a statement from him that said, "Mr. Spears is sorry to see his daughter suffering and in so much pain. Mr. Spears loves his daughter and misses her very much."
Chris' "Leave Britney Alone" video also became a topic of discussion after Britney made her statement, especially after audio from the phone call leaked online. "We all owe the LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE guy an apology; he was right and we were jerks," one Twitter user wrote. Another responded, "Are you serious? Everyone loves @ChrisCrocker Also, it was satire. Weird that ppl don't know that." Chris replied, "No it wasn't."
"I made the 'Live Britney Alone' video because I felt like people should leave you alone," Chris said on Instagram, "and I feel like now, hopefully the conservatorship ends and she can live her life the way she f--king wants to live it."