The New York Post is under fire for “slut shaming,” naming and sharing images of a paramedic who “makes ends meet” by sharing subscription-only nudes on OnlyFans.
In a GoFundMe donation website set up after the Post piece’s Saturday release, Lauren Kwei wrote, “Most of the quotes in that article are me defending myself to this reporter. He did not include that I begged him to remain anonymous (which was never agreed to) and that I told him my safety and job were going to be at risk if he posted this article. He truly did not care.”
She added, “He went on to call my employer and my mother. As some of you may know, I’ve been home with my family in WV following my father going into cardiac arrest last week. I have not been able to speak with my employer because of this and I still do not know what they are going to do.”
The Post article in question — “NYC medic helped ‘make ends meet’ with racy OnlyFans side gig” — is co-bylined by Dean Balsamini and Susan Edleman. A representative to the Post did not return a request for comment.
Backlash came swiftly for the Post. Yahoo News national correspondent Alexander Nazarayan pointed out that the article mentioned she had three jobs, but “one of them apparently displeased the New York Post, so now she may have none.” Numerous others accused the tabloid of “slut shaming” and questioned the point of writing an entire article about a woman who is not a public figure as opposed to one about the broader issue of how the pandemic has affected workers’ finances.
Journalists called the piece “sh—-” and New York congressional representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even weighed in, writing, “Leave her alone. The actual scandalous headline here is ‘Medics in the United States need two jobs to survive.’”
Activist Charlotte Clymer summed up the situation like this: “Let me get this straight: this woman is risking her life during COVID to save the lives of others during the day and otherwise supplements her income by engaging in an activity in which literally no one is being hurt and no laws are being broken, and you’re publicly shaming her?”
The GoFundMe raised over $20,000 by Monday morning.