‘There has never been a better Time To fight revenge porn’
Youtube star Chrissy Chambers made history by becoming the first person in the UK to win civil damages in a revenge porn case. She tells Anna Silverman how the tide has changed for victims
Wednesday 17 jan will go down as one of the most significant days in Chrissy Chambers’ life: not only did she win ground-breaking civil damages for a revenge porn case after a four-year battle for justice; she also ended her statement on the steps of the High Court by proposing to her girlfriend, Bria Kam.
‘I realised, I’ve been with this woman for six years, and four and a half of them have been dedicated to fighting my ex,’ Chrissy, 27, tells Grazia, two days after the verdict. ‘It’s like he’s been a part of our relationship all this time and I didn’t want to waste another second on starting a new and much better chapter.’
An excited Bria, 31, adds, ‘ When she got down on one knee, I just started
crying. I feel like I’ve been married to Chrissy in my heart for such a long time. But I never expected she’d propose seconds after the case was behind us. I just wanted to faint into her arms and never let her go.’
Now Chrissy promises her win means the tide has turned for victims of revenge porn everywhere. She says it has set a legal precedent and should serve as a warning to those who seek to harm with the vicious offence. ‘ There are lawyers specialising in helping victims of this kind of crime now.’ She adds, ‘I’ve had so many people write saying “this happened to me” or “an ex threatened me with it and I feel like I’ve gotten my voice back by you sharing your story.”’
In 2015, it became a criminal offence in England to post private, sexual images online without consent. But videos of Chrissy were uploaded two years earlier. Because of this, police in the UK told her they couldn’t bring any criminal charges against her ex. Civil damages were the only way she could try to seek justice, so she sued him for harassment, breach of confidence and misuse of private information.
Her torment started in 2013, two years into her relationship with Bria. They were already Youtube stars, with over 50,000 subscribers to their channel – which includes LGBT advice, songs and comedy sketches. ( They now have around one million subscribers across two channels.) A friend of Chrissy’s noticed comments underneath some of their posts calling her a ‘slut’, ‘whore’ and a ‘ bad role model because she’s in porn videos’. She googled her name and found videos her British ex-boyfriend had recorded without her knowledge or consent, of himself having sex with her after he’d got her drunk when she was 18 – before she came out as gay.
‘He started uploading them in 2011 and I found out in 2013,’ Chrissy explains, ‘so there were two years where these videos were online without me knowing. I stumbled to Bria and she said by the look on my face she thought my whole family had been killed.’
Chrissy spiralled into depression: suffering from PTSD, night terrors, sleep paralysis and alcoholism. The pair spent the next four and a half years basing every day around the case and news they received from their lawyers. ‘It’s been a full-time job and put so much pressure on our relationship,’ says Chrissy. ‘I didn’t ever think I would be free of it.’
They were told in July 2013 there was a very slim chance for justice. Because Chrissy’s ex was British and the videos were uploaded from the UK, the case was fought here (even though she is based in Los Angeles). She was awarded ‘substantial’ damages from her ex last week, in the first case of its kind in the UK. ‘ We never expected to find justice. It was not a tunnel that had light at the end of it,’ she explains.
Chrissy’s determined to spend her life speaking out to protect victims of revenge porn. ‘It feels like this case has been a prison and the chains have finally come off. I feel so much freer, my name has been vindicated and I have my dignity back. For anyone living in fear of revenge porn being used against them, there has never been a better time to come forward.’
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Y/project is a brand that has always, in Martens’ words, ‘challenged the acceptable and triggered people by putting focus on the unexpected’. There’s definitely nothing predictable about the exaggerated UGGS, which gives them kudos as the next fugly shoe to acquire a fabulous fanbase. Still not convinced? Just imagine how supremely toasty those thigh-high versions will be…