We were all amazed when we heard that Bella Thorne had raked in $2 million upon first joining OnlyFans.
But some of her subscribers are accusing her of scamming them and demanding refunds ... and now Bella is accused of ruining the site.
First, the basics: OnlyFans is a subscription website intended for adult media.
That can mean tasteful nudes to hardcore porn featuring multiple people or just some tantalizing modeling photos.
The basic idea is that you pay a subscription fee on a monthly basis and you get to see whatever content the content creator dishes out.
For the most part, OnlyFans users tend to be people who are not famous.
Strippers, cam stars, and other sex workers take advantage of the site to showcase their bodies in photos and videos for subscribers.
OnlyFans has skyrocketed in popularity this year, but the reason behind it is unfortunate -- so many people have lost work during the pandemic and needed to make up the difference.
There are some famous people on OnlyFans, including multiple 90 Day Fiance stars.
In a deeply chaotic move, Dorinda Medley opened an OnlyFans page ... but it exists to keep fans up to date on her day to day life, not to share her nudes.
Aaron Carter is one of the few people on OnlyFans to both be genuinely famous and to show nudity. That's right -- Aaron's party is clothing optional.
But so far, no one's popularity has compared to Bella Thorne absolutely demolishing OnlyFans by creating a page.
Just days ago, the almost-23-year-old signed up and was inundated with followers.
For the (relatively moderate) subscription price of $20 a month, fans were promised a whole new look at Bella.
More than 89,000 fans and counting have signed up, following her on the site.
Subscriptions are not the only way that content creators can make money.
They can also receive tips, for which there are convenient options. Creators can also offer PPV.
Bella has already made an estimated $2 million on OnlyFans. It has been less than one week.
Now, there were instant grumblings in the community of online sex workers who once again see a celebrity abuse a moneymaking vehicle that they need to survive.
Others, however, praised Bella for putting herself out there and using her body to rake in so much cash.
So how much bang are Bella's subscribers getting for their buck? This is where Bella's success story begins to stumble.
With 27 photos and 8 videos, is she doing cam work or just sharing tasteful nudes? Is she doing full scenes with partners?
Nothing of the sort. In fact, as many longtime fans quickly notices, a lot of her photos appear to be recyled pictures that she shared on Instagram.
These subscribers -- numerous enough to populate their own small city -- are paying $20 a month for ... a second Instagram?
Apparently, it gets worse, as Bella reportedly put out a $200 PPV (pay-per-view post), claiming that it contained full nudity.
However, it was allegedly not the promised fully nude photoset.
According to sex workers sharing their new horror story to Twitter, so many people are demanding refunds from Bella that OnlyFans is changing its policies.
Now, OnlyFans creators are no longer permitted to charge over $50 for any PPV content.
And they can no longer be tipped above $100 -- precautions seemingly put into place to limit how much OnlyFans might have to pay if refunds are demanded.
Worst of all, OnlyFans creators generally only have to wait 7 days to be paid out from what subscribers pay or tip.
This week, they were reportedly informed that they will now have to wait 30 days for these payouts.
This means thousands of sex workers, many of whom are financially vulnerable, having to wait weeks longer before accessing a source of income.
No one thinks that Bella Thorne set out to ruin the lives of sex workers or drive them into more dangerous lines of work during a deadly pandemic.
But the anger is real, and the world of OnlyFans has been rocked by this.
It is unclear if Bella will emerge from all of this unscathed, but many people are hurting and angry -- and as much as we have admired Bella in the past, we cannot blame them.