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 to The Post, 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 swiftly led to widespread outcry from the hundreds of thousands of creators who sell explicit photos and videos on the platform.
“I’m beyond disappointed in OnlyFans’ decision — angry and betrayed would be a more accurate description,” OnlyFans creator Courtney Tillia told The Post over the weekend.
OnlyFans founder and CEO Tim Stokely then 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 discriminated against the company. Stokely said the company pays out more than $300 million each month to more than 1 million creators.
However, the founder also conceded Tuesday that OnlyFans would “absolutely” bring back porn if Wall Street changed its tune.
Meanwhile, on a Reddit forum for OnlyFans creators, some sex workers who used the platform were baffled by the quick reversal just a day later.
“Im so confused and even more stressed than before now,” wrote one user.
“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.
Many creators also took issue with the fact that OnlyFans said it was “suspending” the porn ban rather than cancelling it.
“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.But Stokley has denied that the now-defunct porn ban was designed to attract outside investors.