OnlyFans is a website founded in 2016 by Timothy Stokely, which has around 30 million users and 450,000 creators; it allows these creators to earn money from users who subscribe to their content. The website has given people a safe platform to sell their explicit videos/ photos and find reliable customers from a one-off payment to a long-term sugar daddy/mummy. On average, the creators are paid around £5 to £20 a month for each subscription, not included tips – until Bella Thorne changed it all.
Belle Thorne, an influential artist, who has empowered women for years due to her open talks about her sexuality and sexual experiences, has enraged many of these same women and lost her popularity or has so-called been ‘canceled’. This is due to her racking up over £1 million in just one day of joining the site by selling pictures and videos of which are less explicit than her free Instagram account. Some are saying she scammed her subscribers, however, The Times reported that’s “In a poll, she did ask her fans what type of content they’d like from her; tongue teasing, lingerie, booty, showering and twerking were among the answers,” suggesting that she merely just sold what her fans asked for.
Despite the controversy of her content, the £2 million she earned in a week is what made OnlyFans change their policies. Before Bella Thorne, there was no limit to the amount charged for creators content but now the limit is £50 with another limit to the tipping of £100; furthermore, creators have to wait 30 days until the money reaches their bank accounts. Creators are complaining that they cannot pay for basic necessities: childcare, food, shelter within the deadlines that are expected because their profits are reaching them too late. Paige, an OnlyFans content creator says, “As a black and brown woman… I am deeply concerned about finances, especially now. Only Fans had given me a moment to finally breathe and feel a bit more secure. Custom videos, sexting, tips… that’s half of the income I made on Only Fans. And these new policies are going to hinder my income potential.”
Not only are creators angry about these new policies, but some customers – who go by the name of ‘paypigs’ are also infuriated that they cannot pay any more than £150. ‘Paypigs’ are known to pay an extreme amount of money in return for being humiliated; not only do they get sexual pleasure from being humiliated but also enjoy the manipulation from the creators to make them pay. This humiliation kink can be used to deal with childhood trauma and PTSD as it can be seen as taking back power from younger years. Some go as far as to say that the kink is a form of therapy to them, meaning the tip limit has taken away a form of euphoria for them.
Many people have been affected by these new rules and blame Bella Thorne for the making of them. Although Bella Thorne has told fans she didn’t mean to mislead her customers, people are outraged that she charged so much for her pictures/videos; OnlyFans' new policy clearly tries to stop people from earning so much in a week – as Bella Thorne did. Some time has passed since these new rules meaning people are starting to forget what Bella Thorne has done and are living with the rules – hopefully, they will change back in the future.
