What Happened to the YouTuber Behind the 'Leave Britney Alone' Video? All About Cara Cunningham's Continued Career Online

Cara Cunningham left a lasting impression on the internet in 2007, when she posted an emotional vlog defending Britney Spears on YouTube, famously begging viewers to "leave Britney alone."

In the video that made her an online icon, then-19-year-old Cunningham addressed invasive media coverage of Spears and sobbed through a list of hardships the singer had recently endured.

The original upload racked up millions of YouTube views before it was eventually deleted from YouTube. In 2021, Rolling Stone reported that the creator sold the video as a non-fungible token for about $44,000.

Though Cunningham doesn't regularly post on YouTube anymore, closing her account in September 2015, she still creates content online today.

Here's a look back at her early career beginnings and where she is today.

What is the 'Leave Britney Alone' video?

"Leave Britney Alone" is a 4-minute rant Cunningham posted on YouTube in 2007. In the video — which garnered millions of views — the content creator addresses media outlets, reporters and paparazzi and questions their intentions to attack or hurt the "Toxic" singer.

"All you people care about is readers and making money off of her. She's a human!" Cunningham said of Spears. "What you don't realize is that Britney is making you all this money and all you do is write a bunch of crap about her."

As the video progresses, Cunningham becomes increasingly emotional as she questions what critics have said about Spears' professionalism.

"When is it professional to publicly bash someone who is going through a hard time?" she asked the camera through tears. "Leave Britney Spears alone right now! I mean it. Anyone that has a problem with her, you deal with me."

Over a decade later, Cunningham reflected on the original post and its continued relevance today amid the "Free Britney" movement.

"I made this video as a gender-bending teenage high school dropout in my grandparent's bedroom," Cunningham, who came out as transgender in August 2021, told Business Insider that same year. "I had no idea the impact its message would have, years later, maybe society is finally starting to get it."

What happened after 'Leave Britney Alone' went viral?

In 2021, Cunningham looked back on her fame in an interview with NPR. She reflected on what it was like becoming a punch line for comedians and internet users all around the world. Her video was discussed by news anchors, referenced in large-scale media and parodied on shows like South Park and Glee.

As a result of becoming a widespread joke, Cunningham claimed that she was physically assaulted on "numerous occasions" after being recognized in public.

"There were situations where like, there were men trying to chase after me to beat me up and I got away. And there were other situations where I was literally just standing there and someone walks up and smacks me across the face," she alleged to NPR.

After Cunningham sold her video as an NFT, she addressed the general rise in sympathy for Spears in a conversation with Business Insider in 2021. Cunningham noted that while her 2007 video delivered that same message, she believes it was dismissed due to transphobic and homophobic biases.

"Because it was such a different time, no one could understand why I would make that and be sincere," she said in 2021. "I was just defending her as a person, not a pop star and I just wanted her to be happy, that's all."

What happened to the creator of the 'Leave Britney alone' video? Cara Cunningham and her fiancé.

Cara Cunningham/Instagram

Cara Cunningham is still a popular social media influencer today, with over 1.1 million followers between Instagram and TikTok. She regularly posts day-in-the-life, short-form vlog content and food reviews.

In 2021, Cunningham took to Instagram to announce her transition after dealing with gender dysphoria for years. She explained that she was beginning hormone replacement therapy.

"It's been 33 years coming and I'm happy to be in a place where I can embrace who I am. I have put my identity and personal happiness aside for so long, out of fear and rejection or me not wanting to embarrass my family," she wrote on social media. "Then I realized anyone who actually loves me for me, won't be embarrassed and would've shown genuine interest in how long I have felt this way in the first place."

More recently, Cunningham shared that she and her partner were engaged. Though her fiancé rarely appears on her social media, the content creator did share footage of them getting her ring resized to debunk rumors about why she wasn't wearing the band.

What has the creator said about the 'Leave Britney Alone' video since it was posted?

After Spears published her memoir The Woman in Me in October 2023, Cunningham made a video replying to a TikTok comment asking if she had any comments to make. The influencer said many people were asking her to speak on the singer's situation, including media outlets and even her old manager.

However, at the time, Cunningham said she was preoccupied with caring for her "Mamaw," the person who raised the creator, being at the end of hospice.

"I am being tagged in hundreds of videos on Instagram and TikTok, and people want me to talk about things that are from a video I did when I was a teenager," she explained. "At the end of the day ... [Spears'] voice needs to be heard. I don't need to speak for her and no one else should either."

Cunningham also admitted that she "was not a perfect fan" of the artist. "I believed back then when the tabloids said she didn't like my video, and so I got bitter and resentful," she said of Spears. "Years later, when I grew up, I just got to this point where I was like, 'You know, I was 19 years old. Okay?'"

She went on to state that she's personally in "a different place in life," and revisiting that time can be "triggering" due to the way people made fun of her. Cunningham noted that she coped with the constant ridicule by trolling everyone back.

"I meant every word in that video but it took years for me to realize that I was seeing myself through the eyes of others," she added. "I just don't want to always talk about that video from back then, and I know people are like trying to be nice and whatever, but it's just a lot."