Earlier this week, Rolling Stone reported that many sex workers were furious that actor Bella Thorne had made $2 million on OnlyFans, a subscription platform where creators sell content directly to their fans. Now, they’re even more outraged following apparent changes to OnlyFans policy that they say were implemented without warning.
According to multiple content creators who spoke to Rolling Stone, OnlyFans quietly issued a $50 cap on pay-per-view messages (essentially, exclusive content sent to paying subscribers), and a $100 cap on tips, without warning or announcing any policy changes. “There was no notification,” says Savannah Solo, a sex worker and content creator who was one of the many to tweet about their outrage over the change. “We are now just suddenly unable to [receive a] tip over $100 and price a PPV over $50.” OnlyFans also reportedly extended the timeline for payouts from seven days to 30 days, though it later clarified this change would only affect creators in specific countries.
Initially, these changes were ascribed to Thorne, who, according to screengrabs being shared on social media, promised subscribers nude photos for $200 (despite previously saying on her Twitter that she would not sell nudes). The rumor was that her subscribers attempted to get their money back when the photos only showed implied nudity, calling their credit card companies to reverse the charges.
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Rolling Stone was unable to independently verify these screengrabs offering $200 nudes, and the capitalization of the username as well as the profile photo don’t match with those on Thorne’s official account. Thorne’s representation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In response to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment, an OnlyFans spokesperson says, “Transaction limits are set to help prevent overspending and to allow our users to continue to use the site safely. We value all of the feedback received since this change was implemented and we will continue to review these limits,” adding, “We can confirm that any changes to transaction limits are not based on any one user.”
Yet even if the changes in policy were not prompted by Thorne, many OnlyFans content creators who are reliant on the platform — and were already furious about increasing celebrity gentrification — took to Twitter to complain about the impact of the supposed policy changes, causing Bella Thorne to trend.
So cute how Bella Thorne made her Onlyfans on a whim without doing an once of research on how it would impact the community and she immediately f*cked it up for us 🥰 LOVE that!
— Savannah Solo 🤷🏼♀️ Onlyfans (@savannah_solo) August 28, 2020
