OnlyFans reverses porn ban, will allow sexually explicit content

By: Theo W.

OnlyFans says it no longer plans to ban porn in an abrupt flip-flop that comes after a backlash from sex workers who use the popular platform to sell sexually explicit photos and videos.

“We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change,” the company said on Twitter. “OnlyFans stands for inclusion and we will continue to provide a home for all creators.”

The news comes less than one week after OnlyFans said it planned to ban all sexually explicit content starting Oct. 1 while still allowing some nudity.

In a statement, OnlyFans spokesperson Sophia Bernardi said the porn ban is “no longer required due to banking partners’ assurances that OnlyFans can support all genres of creators.” The company plans to send an “official communication to creators” soon.

The announcement of the ban earlier in the week led to a swift outcry outcry from the hundreds of thousands of creators who sell explicit photos and videos on the platform – but the company’s reversal on Wednesday also left many creators feeling betrayed.

“My initial reaction was, ‘Yes that’s fantastic,’” OnlyFans creator Courtney Tillia told The Post about Wednesday’s announcement. “And then I was like, wait a second, I feel like they only took this back because they realized the repercussions to it.”

“I want to be part of a platform that celebrates sex workers not just tolerates them,” she added.

Even after the initial backlash from creators over the weekend, OnlyFans founder and CEO Tim Stokely doubled down on the decision Tuesday, saying the company “had no choice” but to ban porn because big banks like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon made it tough to do business.

Banks would sometimes unfairly flag transactions or even outright refuse to work with OnlyFans due to “reputational risk,” Stokley said. The company pays out more than $300 million each month to more than 1 million creators.

The founder had conceded Tuesday that OnlyFans would “absolutely” bring back porn if Wall Street changed its tune.

OnlyFans didn’t give details on what had changed between the company and the banks it said made it hard to do business. The banks didn’t comment to CNBC.

Meanwhile, performer Tillia said the company’s flip-flopping has led her and other top creators to seriously consider leaving the platform.

“I’m one of the top 1 percent of creators and I’m friends with many of the others – and many of us have already begun to transition to other platforms,” Tillia said. “I would love for Tim Stokely to give me a call and tell us what he’s going to do to reassure us.”

Tillia bills herself as a “women’s life coach” and says she rakes in between $20,000 to $100,000 monthly on OnlyFans from her 17,000 subscribers.

On a Reddit forum for OnlyFans creators, other creators said they also were considering leaving the site despite the reversal.

“Yeah, they can still go f-k themselves,” said another. “I’m completely switching to Fansly as soon as possible.”

Fansly is an OnlyFans alternative that saw increased interest from OnlyFans creators after the company initially announced its porn ban.

But Tillia, who has nearly 20,000 paid subscribers on OnlyFans, said she did not plan to leave immediately.

“I’m not in a rush because I want to make sure it’s a smooth transition for me and all my subscribers,” she said. “I’m not trying to leave everyone high and dry like OnlyFans did to us.”

Tillia and other creators also took issue with the fact that OnlyFans said it was “suspending” the porn ban rather than cancelling it.

“Suspended?” asked Tillia. “Does that mean it’s going to come back soon? What does this mean?”

“SUSPENDED. not even cancelled,” wrote user on Reddit. “f- onlyfans. they made their bed.”

OnlyFans’ short-lived porn ban was part of what many observers see as a broader push to clean up the company’s smutty reputation.

The company recently launched a “safe for work” iPhone and Android app called OFTV that does not allow nudity and features content like podcasts and cooking shows.

Cleaning up OnlyFans’ image could help the company attract more outside investment, as many investment firms have agreements that prevent them from investing in “vice” industries like porn, alcohol and firearms.

Stokley has denied that the now-defunct porn ban was designed to attract outside investors.