Am I wrong for pitying celebs and influencers who join Only Fans?
Hugh Hefner's son and a former Soprano's actor are the latest to join the adult site
I’m not looking to get cancelled so early on in my Substack ‘career’, but the day I learnt former YouTuber Marcus Butler was on OnlyFans, I dropped that bombshell in every conversation I possibly could.
To put my shock into context, Marcus was previously a YouTuber. Part of the infamous YouTube Brit crew that included Zoe Sugg, Alfie Deyes, Jim Chapman, Tanya Burr and Joe Sugg.
Marcus raked in millions of views per video, got chased by screaming girls and even had his own autobiography (I mean, to be fair, what YouTuber hasn’t).
Fast forward 5 years and while some of his peers remain online with successful careers, Marcus quit YouTube, moved to Berlin and started selling nudes online.
Not to me, just to clarify.
Now, call me a prude, but that’s a decision I don’t imagine you’d make if you were still living off your YouTube partner earnings, with AD deals coming out your ears. But maybe I’m wrong and in fact moving countries while coming out as bisexual truly liberates you in every sense.
When it comes to selling nudes, no one did it better (or less ethically) than Hugh Hefner and while he kept his silk dressing gown firmly on, his son has other ideas.
In an interview with The Messenger, Marston Hefner expressed his frustration at the “double standard” in his family - who are not accepting of his new side hustle sharing nude photos.
A very fair point when you consider the only difference between him and his mother (former Playmate Kimberly Conrad) is that her nudes were in print while his are optimised for mobile.
It’s estimated by Fortune that despite his success, Hugh’s estate after his death amounted to $15 million, which was believed to be split between his four children.
For you and I that’s a staggering amount of money, but if you've grown up with a father who brings his own meal (prepared by his team of private chefs) to every restaurant outing, it’s likely that $4 million (ish) won’t last you very long.
Now, if Hugh was a Nordpak dad, would Marston be dimly lighting his butt cheeks in the bathroom? Unlikely. But then, maybe not seeing as he grew up around a culture of sex and nudity.
But then there’s actor Drea de Matto who’s role as Adriana in The Sopranos is her most notable. However, according to IMDB, her last role was one appearance this year in an episode of Son’s of Anarchy spin off - Mayans MC.
If the current US writers and actors strike has taught us anything, it’s that there is a huge pay disparity between jobbing actors and their A-list peers.
So, seeing pictures of Drea posing in her bikini does make me sad because here’s a talented actor who, in my opinion, is selling her body to pay her bills because women in Hollywood continue to have a short shelf life, while the likes of Tom Cruise can continue to zip line on set well into their 60s.
Or, has her experience in acting been more exploitative than selling pictures of her body on her own terms?
Is it that the older millennial in me continues to hold prejudice towards sex workers? Have I been conditioned to see sex and nudity as “bad” or is the move to OnlyFans as heartbreaking as discovering your Cheesecake Factory waiter moved to LA to act?
Totally understand every single point you made. I also do think that in some cases people just want to feel empowered and sell this in a different form. I used to think sex work was bad because the papers told me so but it’s so much more than that. I do think it is a shock when you see people you know from other careers and paths transition into this type of career but again, I find something so empowering about it. Having their own control over their content and what they show. As long as it keeps to that and no one is exploiting them, then I think it should be celebrated like any other. Maybe people watch porn, which is unethical (we know the site name) but giving positivity to sexuality and the industry is something to welcome I think. 😊