As of October 2010[update], 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.

[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.

[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".

[4] Cunningham said she "raised eyebrows" by bringing Barbie dolls to kindergarten for show and tell rather than the toys or action figures more conventionally associated with boys.

[4] Cunningham continued to live in Tennessee throughout her youth, and was homeschooled in response to constant "death threats, bullying and glares at her clothes and makeup"[14][4] specifically after reportedly being "harassed by a homophobic high school gym coach".

[11] As of January 2009[update], it had accumulated a total of 24 million views and was the second-most discussed video of all time on the site (in all categories), with over 350,000 comments.

was one of YouTube's fastest "climbing" videos, reaching the minimum seven million views needed (as of September 2007[update]) to be included in the "Top 100".

[14][17] According to Variety, Cunningham signed a development deal with 44 Blue Productions to create a "docusoap" reality television show, which would be called Chris Crocker's 15 Minutes More.

[34] Rasha Drachkovitch, the production company's co-founder, stated, "It's going to pretty much be the Chris Crocker experience.

"[35] Although sometimes shown in conjunction with news footage of Spears' performance, the "pure performance art" video became its own story, with the news media and the gossip industry offering opinions on the phenomenon, joking that Cunningham could be "an insidious satiric mastermind" and comparing her to Andy Kaufman.

"[7][38][39] Cunningham stated that although she is often acting in her videos, her emotions were genuine and "straight from the heart"; although she described the clip as a "second take" in one interview, she clarified on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

[41] Actor Seth Green's parody, which included him applying eyeliner several times and promoting his show Robot Chicken, called for people to "leave Chris Crocker alone!

[44] In March 2008, a "trance remix" dance single "Leave Britney Alone" was released on iTunes and other sites by "Double J" featuring quotes from Cunningham's video.

[52] In the same month, following the release of the New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears led to broader public reconsideration of how media treated Spears in 2007, Cunningham released a statement on Instagram framing her experience as a teachable moment.

She described the backlash she faced as a visibly genderbending teenager for expressing the same then-unpopular opinion as straight media critics such as Michael Moore as transphobic.

Cunningham said that the backlash made her fear for her life as a gay teenager without much money living in the South.

[54] Cunningham was one of Lily Allen's Internet correspondents on the February 2008 premiere episode of BBC's Lily Allen and Friends where she posed questions for the guest celebrities, in this case David Mitchell and later, Cuba Gooding, Jr.[55][56][57] On May 23, 2008, rock band Weezer released a viral music video for their song "Pork and Beans" – "a natural anthem for the self-expression that's been taking shape on YouTube" – which featured various mash-ups of viral videos and YouTube celebrities, including Cunningham, all playing themselves.

[65] Cunningham announced in August 2011 that a film documenting her life over the past few years would be released, titled Me at the Zoo.

[70] In 2014, Lucas Entertainment digitally released Chris Crocker's Raw Love, which features Cunningham in a scene with her then-boyfriend Justin Dean.

[75] In October 2007, TMZ reported that Cunningham was being sued by Onch Movement Jewelry for $1 million for fraud and breach of contract, and provided a copy of the civil complaint filed in Los Angeles.

[76] Jewelry designer Nelson Chung, professionally known as Onch and a fan of Cunningham, hired her as a celebrity spokesmodel for more than two days' worth of publicity work as well as appearance at World of Wonder's Just Britney art show in exchange for airfare.

[81] Cunningham's uncensored vlogging has been attributed to her isolation as an "effeminate, Southern, flamboyantly gay" adolescent in a "small-minded town" in the Bible Belt.

In June 2006, Cunningham began uploading self-produced videos, characterized as her "singularly bizarre and angry take on gay life and [her] intolerant town".

[9][11][35] Prior to Cunningham's defense of Spears, some of the more than sixty videos she had posted to the two social networking websites had already been viewed more than a million times each, and her YouTube channel was in the top rankings.

[14] In May 2007, Cunningham was the subject of a lengthy profile in the Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger, which discussed her Internet fame prior to the "Leave Britney Alone!"

[14] Dave Schlenker of the newspaper considered her videos to be bold and seething "flares sent up by a young gay man marooned in a sea of rednecks" who is stuck in a small town that "can't tolerate homosexuality and punishes flamboyance.

"[14] He stated that Cunningham's videos include "sex-filled confessions" and "wild monologues" talking "about everything from AIDS to pubic hair.

"[14][11] In many of the videos, Cunningham portrays characters, such as an older deeply religious woman in "The Earl Annie Edna show" series and exaggerated comic characterizations of Southern stereotypes.