How OnlyFans Became OnlyCelebrities: The Problematic Celebrity Presence in Sex Work
Graphic by Agnes Lee.
Only four short years after its launch out of the United Kingdom, OnlyFans has changed the way in which sex work is both consumed and created. The social media platform, designed for individuals to share private content from behind a paywall, was founded by tech entrepreneur and investor Timothy Stokely back in 2016. Since its conception, the site has produced more than $600 million of revenue for its various creators.
The brilliance of the platform is that OnlyFans sex workers are in control of their own business. Each creator lists their own subscription price, creates their own posting schedule and interacts with their clients on their own terms. OnlyFans has widened the market, making the sex industry accessible to anyone with a camera, yet it’s done so in a way that gives sex workers autonomy over their channel. Of course, not every creator on OnlyFans is producing sexual content, but if you see someone with an OnlyFans account you can pretty safely assume that they are there for X-rated content.
Although OnlyFans has been around since 2016, the platform gained incredible popularity during the recent COVID-19 lockdown in which both new creators and consumers flocked to the site to fill their time and make some extra cash. Among those migrating to OnlyFans during quarantine included a wide array of social media influencers and celebrities. Notable new creators included Cardi B, Tana Mongeau, Tyga and Bella Thorne. Despite the newfound celebrity presence causing an increase in overall OnlyFans subscribers, the movement of already famous creators to the site had detrimental effects on the sex workers already there.
The new celebrity presence led OnlyFans consumers to shift their subscriptions away from traditional sex workers and over to the pages of famous people. This move caused more than just a drop in subscription numbers — the number of subscribers is directly related to the amount of money a sex worker makes each month. Many OnlyFans content creators rely on their account as their sole source of income, that is definitely not the case for the many celebrities who flocked to the platform during quarantine.
Back in August of this year, Bella Thorne received intense criticism after joining the platform. By offering explicit content at a fee of $20, Bella Thorne made over $1 million in her first day and $2 million within her first six days. This insane revenue caused OnlyFans to set limits on the amount of money a content creator could make by capping subscription fees at $50 and additional tips at $100. This announcement was coupled with the news that it would now take up to 30 days for creators to receive their money, a drastic increase in time from the previous one-week transaction period.
Bella Thorne’s involvement with OnlyFans encompasses why celebrity participation in sex work can be so devastating to the community. Not only did her page cause a significant decrease in revenue for sex workers due to the migration of subscribers to her page, but the popularity of her content led the platform to limit the level of compensation a creator could earn for their work. After Bella Thorne’s controversy with the platform was exposed, she spoke out in favor of sex workers and claimed that she would work to reverse these limits with OnlyFans. Unfortunately, for most sex workers who relied on this platform as their sole source of income during quarantine, it was a little too late for apologies.
The idealization of sex work has become a problem in many nations with celebrities and influencers deciding to hop into the industry when it seems trendy or fun. Sex work is a real job that supports real families, and the more that celebrities exploit these types of platforms the harder it becomes for everyday sex workers to make a living. The sex industry already faces enough hardship — the last thing these people need is rich Instagram influencers or ex-Disney stars coming for their jobs.