Craig Ferguson’s 2007 monologue where he refuses to make fun of Britney Spears goes viral

Just days after the new Britney Spears documentary Framing Britney Spears debuted on Hulu, a 2007 monologue by Craig Ferguson defending the singer is going viral.

Almost exactly 14 years ago, Spears made headlines by shaving her head with electric clippers in front of paparazzi, after checking herself out of rehab.

While the incident provided plenty of fodder for late-night jokes, Ferguson refused to make fun of her in what is now a legendary late night moment.

The video was unearthed on Monday by the Britney Fan Twitter account, a fan account that was featured in the Framing Britney Spears documentary.

‘Never forget when Craig Ferguson refused to make fun of Britney Spears,’ the tweet read, accompanied by a clip from his monologue.

Ferguson compared the media attention around troubled celebrities to the show America’s Funniest Home Videos.

‘You know, you’d be laughing at the kid falling over and you’re like, “Wait a minute. Put down the damn camera and help your kid.”‘

He added that, ‘people are falling apart, people are dying,’ before mentioning former Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith, who passed away from a drug overdose at the age of 39 just weeks earlier.

When people started laughing after he mentioned she died, he added, ‘It’s not a joke. It stops being funny.’

He added he’s starting to ‘feel uncomfortable about making fun of these people,’ adding he should, ‘attacking the powerful people, the politicians and the Trumps and the blowhards.’

‘We shouldn’t be attacking the vulnerable people. And this is a mea culpa, this is just for me, I think my aim has been off a bit recently and I want to change it a bit. So tonight, no Britney Spears jokes. This woman has two kids, she’s 25 years old, she’s a baby herself. She’s a baby,’ he said as the clip came to an end.

A number of fans responded to the clip, including @sidney_ella, who said, ‘I appreciated this so much. Nothing our culture loves more than roasting marshmallows off the flames of a troubled star who is almost always a woman.’

Twitter user @jakewertz added, ‘Great monologue here overall, but notice how in 2007 he equates Donald Trump with powerful politicians as deserving our scorn. Just incredible how we missed the inevitability of Trump’s political rise.

Another Twitter user, @_msgorg3ous_, added, ‘Idk but this clip just made me tear up. It’s sad that out of everyone only 1 person decided that it was wrong to make fun of Britney while she was vulnerable.’

While Ferguson’s response drew a lot of praise both then and now, the video going viral once again comes as other Britney Spears interviews are being called into quesstion. 

The Talk host Amanda Kloots bashed Diane Sawyer for her 2003 interview with Spears, which was featured in the documentary, adding she didn’t think that type of interview, ‘would even be allowed today.’

A 2001 interview with A Current Affair journalist Mike Munro also surfaced as he questioned how she could have a ‘virginal’ and ‘sexy vamp’ look at the same time.

Spears has been trending since the documentary debuted, which is available to stream on Hulu.