After sex workers began using OnlyFans during the COVID lockdowns in the spring and summer of 2020, the website gained widespread attention. Since then, the membership site has grown into its own universe, a place where creative types, performers, and sex workers alike can make money off of their audiences.
As the pandemic progressed and social media sites like Instagram began cracking down on demon time, OnlyFans emerged as the epicenter for adult content. Cardi B and Bhad Bhabie are just two of the many celebrities who have used OnlyFans to monetize their fan bases by selling content that isn’t necessarily safe for work.
OnlyFans stated their intent to remove sex-related content from the site in August of 2021. CEO Tim Stokely initially blamed banks for the ban. Nonetheless, the company reversed its policy changes.
After receiving immediate backlash from sex workers and others who used the site for income, tweeting, “We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change.”
What Is OnlyFans?
OnlyFans, which debuted in 2016, is a pay-to-play social media platform where users can sell and/or buy each other’s original content through a subscription model. Users who are using the site for adult content will post photos.
And videos that are not suitable for all audiences, and will be hidden behind a paywall. People can subscribe for a monthly fee of $4.99 – $49.99 per month to gain access to the content.
In the midst of the pandemic, when many nightclubs and concert halls were forced to close and their employees sought alternative means of support, the platform’s user base experienced a dramatic surge.
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Scarlet Bloom, an adult entertainer, told the Los Angeles Times, “I realized I needed to diversify my income by making my own content.” OnlyFans was a promising new business model in her eyes. That’s when I started using OnlyFans more regularly.
Who Uses OnlyFans?
Some content makers have been working in the sex industry for years, even before the platform was around. Some of the creators on OnlyFans have extensive experience in the sex industry (porn stars, escorts, webcam models), while others have never worked in the sex industry before.
The thought of paying my mortgage, my bills, and other expenses caused me a lot of stress. I used to take care of pets, primarily canine companions, before we went into lockdown.
A worker known only as “Miss June” told Vice that her employer could not pay her salary until she received a government grant. “Right now I’m relying on my savings. To me, only using OnlyFans was the most convenient solution.
Many seasoned sex workers have spoken out against the recent influx of newcomers, urging them to think carefully about the repercussions of their work and to abandon any preconceived notions they may have.
Valentine, a sex worker in Portland, told the New York Times, “Sure, do it, create an OnlyFans, start camming—but that means you have to support sex workers all year round now.”
You can’t just drop in and out, thinking it’ll be easy, only to trash us at the end… People often assume that people who work in the sex industry make a lot of money, or that we only interested in displaying our bodies and have no morals or intelligence. It goes far beyond that, of course. The commonality of human experience unites us.
Which Celebrities Use OnlyFans?
While sex workers do make up a sizable portion of OnlyFans’ creator base, many notable figures also use the site to promote their own work. To promote her song “WAP,” which features Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B created an OnlyFans account.
Cardi B uses her page to interact with fans and promote upcoming music, though she isn’t as active there as she once was. At the start of 2021, DJ Khaled and Fat Joe also debuted a collaborative account in which they shared motivational messages with their fans.
To promote his “baby-making album of the year,” SXTP4, The-Dream created an Instagram account. But you won’t find any pornographic photos or videos of the rapper there. To get closer to his audience and inspire them to share “their own sensual choreography to his latest tracks,” he set up the free page.
Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood couple Safaree Samuels and Erica Mena, along with reality TV stars like Blac Chyna and The Bachelor’s Chad Johnson, have joined the platform.
In 2020, Tyga signed up for OnlyFans and promised his fans that he would use the platform to release never-before-seen visual and audio content.
He said in a statement, “It’s a new platform where I can talk directly to my fans and give them exclusive music, pics, videos, and other BTS of my latest releases.” They have a much closer look at my daily life and routine than anyone has ever had before. The cigarette lighter is about to be struck!
The “Rack City” rapper announced the launch of his lifestyle and OnlyFans management company, Too Raww, in December 2020. The company geared toward giving aspiring models a foot up on the career ladder.
Final Words
While OnlyFans introduced as a paid service for exclusive content, its name soon became synonymous with sexual activity. During the coronavirus shutdowns, many people who worked in the adult entertainment industry turned to the platform as a means of making money.
Meanwhile, a rich celebrity makes $1 million in a day cosplaying as a sex worker, despite the fact that sex workers are unable to get pandemic relief due to criminalization and struggle to get people to pay $5/month for their content. Help the working sex workers, not the famous LARPers.
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Also, some people felt misled by Thorne because they paid up to $200 for a “naked” photo that actually quite tame, and they felt they were cheated out of their money. As a result of the uproar, OnlyFans capped the fees creators could charge, though the service insisted the move had nothing to do with the Thorne controversy.
