In my last article I wrote about sex work and briefly touched on OnlyFans. OnlyFans is an online platform that provides content creators a safe way to earn money from their ‘fans’, who pay to access their pages. These creators range from gamers to comedians, but its notoriety comes from its association with sex workers and NSFW content.
On the 19th of August, Paper Magazine published an article announcing that popular actor, singer and controversial media personality Bella Thorne had decided to join OnlyFans. What followed were many glowing articles praising Thorne for her innovation, entrepreneurship and progressive stance on female sexuality. It is unfortunate (but not unsurprising) that Thorne, a white and rich celebrity, is applauded by the media and public while rappers like Rubi Rose and Black Chyna and, of course, sex workers are vilified for doing the same exact thing. Bella Thorne was glorified while the mainly black sex workers – who made the app popular in the first place – were met with scrutiny and shame.
Thorne claimed OnlyFans would provide her a platform for uninhibited self-expression and freedom from censorship and judgement. Furthermore, that joining OnlyFans was an attempt to ‘destigmatise’ sex work as well as a way to research for an upcoming project about what sex work entails. A celebrity, who already has millions of followers, joining the platform isn’t reflective of the experiences of the majority of sex workers who have to work tirelessly to find clients and produce original content, without the resources available to celebrities. She didn’t face any of the stigma, backlash or even violence that sex workers experience on the daily. For Thorne, OnlyFans was something fun to try; for sex workers, it’s their livelihoods.
Her motivations were questionable, but no serious harm was done until she officially launched her page. In just 24 hours, Bella Thorne made one million dollars, which (while obscene) is still not the worst of it. Thorne proceeded to send her ‘fans’ a $200 PPV (pay-per-view) message, which is essentially a message that remains locked until the amount is paid. She promised a nude photo would be revealed, but upon paying the fee her fans were disappointed simply to find a photo of her in lingerie. OnlyFans has a policy to protect clients from being scammed and therefore were forced to reimburse clients for millions of dollars. OnlyFans had to scramble to find funds to rectify the error and payments to thousands of creators was delayed as a result. On top of sex workers now being denied their money for 30 days, OnlyFans has changed their policy in order to prevent future ‘incidents’. Now, clients are prevented from tipping over $100 or paying more than $50 for a PPV – in case OnlyFans has to fork out millions in refunds. Creators being denied their money and prevented from maximising revenue is not only cruel but dangerous. Sex workers are already at risk of abuse, trafficking, arrest (in countries where sex work is illegal) and in the midst of a pandemic, are more vulnerable than ever. Many sex workers rely on OnlyFans income for survival, to have that taken away because a celebrity decided sex work was cool and edgy is absolutely horrific.
Influencers gentrifying platforms used by ordinary people is extremely problematic. And celebrities commodifying and profiting from their own version of ‘sex work’ to fill their already saturated pockets is something that should not be tolerated. Bella Thorne is not an ally. She is not doing any real work to destigmatise sex work nor is she advocating for the changes that really could make sex work safer. With monetised content emerging as the next social media trend, consider carefully who is truly deserving of your money – because a millionaire really doesn’t need it.