"It's sad that people have so much negative to say about this matter," he says. Others criticize what they see as a caricature of a poor, openly gay black man living in the ghetto.īut Dodson, who also works as a hairstylist, takes issue with that. His situation has led some social critics to question whether Dodson's fame is the product of just innocent intrigue. He also has a telephone "fan line" in the works, where he hopes to console victims of sexual violence, and their loved ones. He also has a merchandise section on his website, where visitors can buy T-shirts emblazoned with such phrases as "You are so dumb," which he told his sister's attacker in the newscast. And he says he's earning a profit from iTunes downloads of the "Bed Intruder Song." He now has a blog and thousands of followers on Facebook and Twitter. "I said, Kelly, this could be an opportunity for our family to get out of the 'hood," he recalls. In an interview with NPR's Allison Keyes, Dodson says his sister Kelly initially pressed him to ignore the media attention, which she felt would make him look like a "fool."īut Dodson, a product of the social media generation, says he immediately pegged his Internet fame as a vehicle out of poverty. "It's pretty much a daily job for me," he explains. The 24-year-old is the oldest of six children and says helping support his family and protecting them from potential dangers of inner-city life is nothing new. To date, millions have watched the original news story.Īnd millions more have watched a music video spoof dubbed the "Bed Intruder Song," made by two men known as the Gregory Brothers.īefore his newfound Internet fame and subsequent earnings, Dodson family was of modest means. When this happened, I was like, wow, I can't believe it went crazy like this," says Dodson, adding that people now stop him on the street and call him the "YouTube guy." "I have done interviews on the news before. Within hours, the story made its way onto YouTube. So you all need to hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband, 'cause they're rapin' everybody out here." He's snatching your people up, trying to rape 'em. "Obviously, we have a rapist in Lincoln Park," Dodson told the camera. What followed was an afternoon news spot on local NBC affiliate WAFF-TV, in which Dodson delivered a now famous warning to his sister's neighborhood - a public housing development. Later that morning, something happened that changed his life. Dodson and his sister successfully kicked the man out. It all started in July, when an intruder allegedly crawled into his sister's bedroom window in the wee hours of the morning and tried to sexually assault her. YouTube phenom Antoine Dodson says he likes the "fast life" and plans to use his fame to, among other things, make his mark in the fashion world.Īntoine Dodson says he is not bothered that millions of people have watched - and laughed at - his appearance in a Huntsville, Ala., local news broadcast, which has become a YouTube sensation.
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