American actress and singer, Bella Thorne, apologized on Twitter after facing accusations of undermining sex workers on OnlyFans, a platform that requires followers to pay a subsciption fee for content that bloggers post.
Thorne, who created an account on OnlyFans earlier in the month, raised over $1mln by charging $200 for a subscription. Shortly after her appearance, the platform changed its transaction rules, setting the subscription limit at $50.
This immediately faced strong backlash from sex workers, who blamed Thorne for devaluing their work. She was also denounced by OnlyFans subscribers who were expecting nude photos in her account and accused her of "hinting" that she would post such content.
"I am a mainstream face and when you have a voice, a platform, you try to use you in helping others and advocate for something bigger than yourself. Again in this process I hurt you and for that I’m truly sorry", Thorne tweeted.
I wanted to bring attention to the site, the more people on the site the more likely of a chance to normalize the stigmas, And in trying to do this I hurt you. I have risked my career a few times to remove the stigma behind sex work, porn, and the natural hatred people spew...
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) August 29, 2020
behind anything sex related. I wrote and directed a porn against the high brows of my peers and managers because I WANTED to help with the stigma behind sex.
— BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) August 29, 2020
Thorne also noted that she will be meeting OnlyFans to discuss the new restrictions and "find out why". She urged followers to share their ideas and comments so that she could deliver those to the platform, also encouraging people to share their accounts for her to promote.
According to TMZ, citing an OnlyFans statement, "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. Our objective remains to provide the best platform possible for the OnlyFans community. We can confirm that any changes to transaction limits are not based on any one user", TMZ quoted an OnlyFans representative saying.
Thorne delivered her apologies even though, when announcing the OnlyFans account, she only posted one video of her in a swimsuit and wearing a necklace that read "sex". Earlier in August, she specifically outlined on Twitter that she is "not doing nudity".
OnlyFans, a platform in which subscribers pay to see posts from content creators, has found wide popularity among sex workers, some of whom who make money selling nude photos and other content. The platform also boasts pages from Cardi B and some members of "Real Housewives".