‘I Feel Used’: OnlyFans Made Millions Off Sex Workers’ Labor, Then Hung Them Out To Dry

A sudden policy change that will ban "sexually explicit" material from OnlyFans threatens to upend the lives of those who made the platform successful.

At the height of the pandemic, Jessica, a 33-year-old single mother living in the suburbs of Chicago, felt like she was drowning. Her ex was paying reduced child support as a result of the crisis, which left her struggling to cover her rent for the two-bedroom apartment she shared with her three kids. Her income as a loan processor wasn’t enough, and she knew that her situation wasn’t sustainable. So she decided to try selling nude videos of herself on OnlyFans, a subscription platform that had soared to fame in recent years as an online marketplace for homemade NSFW content. It was a scary step to take, but with hard work, it paid off. “It literally doubled my income,” said Jessica, who is identified only by her first name to protect her family’s privacy. “Now I’m able to provide for my children without begging for help.”