First, it is designed so that YouTubers can convert their followers into paying subscribers instead of working for free. And secondly, it is a self-proclaimed “adult” network, only suitable for those over 18. The site boasts of having one of the strictest age verifications in the tech industry.

Phillips will celebrate her 22nd birthday in 2023

LILY PHILLIPS/INSTAGRAM

Of course, “adult interests” could mean many things, as managing director Keily Blair has explained: “Lots of people over 18 like sex, but they also like comedy, sports and music.” And when I visit the site itself (for purely journalistic reasons: I am not a subscriber and I’m sure you’ll be disappointed to hear that, not a creator), many different types of content are displayed.

For example, a golfer gives course reviews. While wearing a tiny skirt and crop top. A post by a rider gives advice on buying a horse personally: Her photos show her posing in a bra and panties in a stable. If you’re into fitness, there’s a recipe for a protein-packed snack – inevitably made by a woman in a barely-there bikini. Sex is the focus of OnlyFans.

Founded in 2016 by British father and son Guy and Tim Stokely, it was originally considered the place to have fans without mentioning eroticism. But as sites like Tumblr cracked down on NSFW content and the porn industry became increasingly competitive, OnlyFans became the go-to destination for sex workers and their clients. In 2018 it was purchased by Ukrainian-American porn entrepreneur Leonid Radvinsky.

Kate Nash uses OnlyFans to finance her tour costs

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Radvinsky has some dark sides in his past. His first company, founded at the age of 17, was called Cybertania Inc and ran a series of websites that promised users access to “illegal” and “hacked” logins for porn sites. Some of these sites offered material that included children or sodomy, although a Forbes investigation found no evidence that such content was actually available through Radvinsky’s sites.

OnlyFans’ moderation rules are clear: nothing illegal is allowed. However, the balance sheet is not flawless. In 2021, the BBC reported that under-18s are bypassing the age verification process and selling explicit images and videos. A few months later, OnlyFans announced that it would ban sexual content entirely — and then reversed the decision within days.

None of this has stopped the company from expanding inexorably. The lockdown was a boom time for the platform. Men who were either furloughed or scheduled to work from home wanted to relieve their boredom. For women worried about how to pay their bills, meanwhile, the promise of easy money and total control appeared to be promised. (At this point, Phillips has logged into the site.)

It also benefited from some great celebrity endorsements, including a money-can’t-buy namedrop from Beyoncé for the 2020 remix Wild with rapper Megan Thee Stallion. That same year, former Disney star Bella Thorne got into the game and racked up $2 million worth of subscriptions in a week.

Bella Thorne caused controversy with her time on the site

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Then it turned out that the “nudes” Thorne was selling weren’t nudes at all, but rather lingerie shots, and the whole thing ended in a flood of dissatisfied customers. Rank-and-file developers blamed Thorne for a number of unwelcome changes to the service, including a fee cap and the switch from weekly to monthly payments.

This controversy did little to deter other famous names from signing on. Kate Moss’ half-sister Lottie Moss has said she earns up to £30,000 a month from OnlyFans. This year, pop star and actress Lily Allen joined the site as a creator specializing in foot fetish images: based on her subscriber count, she could earn £10,000 a month. This also applies to the singer Kate Nash, who won the Brit Award for best female artist in 2008. “I like taking pictures of my butt. “I’ve always been a bit quick as lightning,” she explained.

• I met the woman who runs OnlyFans. It didn’t go well

In both cases, the decision was about more than “empowerment” and “self-expression.” Both have spoken about the music industry’s difficult economic conditions: streaming services pay artists as little as $0.003 per play, while the cost of touring is prohibitively high. In other words, you need the money. (It’s worth noting that, despite pushing the site with her music, Beyoncé has never had an OnlyFans account.)

Lottie Moss has said she earns up to £30,000 a month from OnlyFans

CAN NGUYEN/SHUTTERSTOCK/REX

Lily Allen has joined the site as a creator, specializing in foot fetish images

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But OnlyFans can also be fierce competition, especially for people like Phillips who aren’t as well-known to begin with. Switching from offering sexy pictures to offering real sex wasn’t enough to drastically increase her income. Like many YouTubers before her, she discovered that to get noticed, you have to do something extreme.

She found early success with a contest in which the prize was having sex with her (the winner’s girlfriend was waiting in the next room for him to finish). However, her big break was her first “gangbang,” where she recruited 100 men to have sex with her on the same day. She said she liked about 30 percent of them, but it would have been “pretty cruel” to turn any of them away. At 60, she was almost ready to quit.

This makes her decision to choose the thousand all the more difficult to understand. Logistically alone it is a huge challenge. Even if Phillips doesn’t take any breaks, she still has to defeat each man in less than 90 seconds. Even for men who think this is their ultimate fantasy, this is a huge drain on their performance.

And who will these men be? The application process includes sending a photo of yourself with your ID. Everyone must also wear a condom and take an HIV test on this day. Otherwise, Phillips did not describe any form of scrutiny—despite her experience with some men who attempted to push the boundaries during her century.

Phillips calls herself a feminist, but there’s something inevitably dark about her setting this up in the shadow of the Pelicot rape trial in France. Phillips is an eager participant, but one of the horrors of what happened to Gisèle Pelicot at the hands of her husband is how many men completely disregarded her consent when given the chance to become a “porn star” while having sex with her Her unconscious body was filmed.

But even without this background, Phillips shows how market forces distort sex. Once you’ve made the decision to sell yourself, there’s inevitably pressure to go harder, further, and more extreme. If she makes the thousand, where can she go next?