An Australian star of explicit videos has said she’s quitting the industry because of its “unstable nature”.
Lucy Banks, who has made more than $1 million sharing adult content on OnlyFans, announced her departure from the platform on Thursday.
In a statement, the Western Australian woman claimed that despite significantly contributing to the site’s revenue, she felt marginalised.
“It’s disappointing that we earn literal billions of dollars for this company as adult creators, and we receive zero support. OnlyFans treats its adult creators like cash cows,” Banks, who has been using the platform for four years, said.
“They love the revenue we bring them, but they’re constantly trying to distance themselves from us. I’m out.”
Banks said she’d reached out “personally” to OnlyFans CEO Amrapali Gan after she was informed her account was set for deletion.
“She told me I was being queued for deletion for selling my Snapchat code, which isn’t even against the rules. I showed her screenshots of where I had reached out to OF Support to double check I was allowed to. She didn’t care, just told me to appeal my account deletion after it happened.”
Ms Gan’s dismissal, Banks added, “feels gross”.
“We’re out here baring all, and we get zero support. I was so excited when a new CEO was appointed recently. I did my research and found out she was a mum,” she said.
“[I thought] how cool, having a fellow mother spearhead such an amazing female-focused platform. I reached out to her about [my account] being incorrectly queued for deletion, explaining this is how I provide for my family. She could not have cared less. It’s disappointing, to say the least.”
Banks, a mother of two, said as a result she could no longer rely on the platform as a stable source of income.
“I have kids that rely on me, I have bills to pay. I’d be irresponsible to keep pouring my heart into a job that could be taken away from me at any moment,” she said, announcing the launch of a new social media agency, Million Billion Media, to assist business owners in achieving their goals ethically.
“It’s time to build my own thing, something I can rely on.”
Banks told Mamamia earlier this month that the stigma she’d faced when first joining the platform in 2019 had “eroded significantly” in the years since.
“Initially, people were just shocked. It was the biggest deal in the world but it’s been nice to kind of just live my life without the huge amount of Judgement that I used to get,” she recalled.
“I had family members that didn’t talk to me for 18 months. I fell out with my entire friend group. It was really hard and there was a time when I was like, ‘What have I done?’ I felt so bad.
“But then there was another side that kicked in and told me, ‘You have not personally done anything to those people. You’re still the same person. Focus on your goals. You’re trying to build a future for your boys.’ And that kept me going.”