Bella Thorne apologized Saturday for the negative impact her OnlyFans account had on sex workers who were already using the paid subscription site to sell photos and adult videos, explaining that her intent was to “normalize the stigmas” around sex.
“Remove the stigma behind sex, sex work, and the negativity that surrounds the word SEX itself by bringing a mainstream face to it,” the actress wrote on Twitter. “That’s what I was trying to do, to help bring more faces to the site to create more revenue for content creators on the site.”
She went on, “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 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.”
OnlyFans is a subscription service where content creators earn money they receive directly from users who subscribe. Because pornographic content is accepted on the site, it has become very popular with sex workers and those in the adult entertainment business.
Thorne set a site record, earning over $1 million within the first 24 hours (and $2 million in less than a week) after joining the service and promising nude photos for $200. Instead, she posted lingerie-clad photos, which resulted in subscribers demanding their money back. OnlyFans issued new guidelines limiting the amount creators can charge, and sex workers criticized the move, fearing it would impact their income. The site has also extended the waiting period before they’re allowed to cash out their earnings, from seven to 30 days.
She went on to say she knew she “hurt” creators and was “truly sorry,” then revealed she plans to meet with a team at OnlyFans to address new creator restrictions that popped up after she launched her account.
“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,” she concluded. “Again in this process I hurt you and for that I’m truly sorry.”