Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

How Cardi B pushed niche adult content fan site to new heights

Celebrities including Cardi B and Bella Thorne joined fan site OnlyFans to make some money, while Beyoncé rapped about it. The site, which started out with people charging fans to see exclusive adult content, is now a billion dollar business.

As US rapper Cardi B prepared the release for her latest song WAP, she checked off all the usual components of her promotional plan, including magazine covers, Instagram posts and a raunchy YouTube video. Then she added one more: OnlyFans, a site where people charge admirers for special access to videos and photos.

OnlyFans is closely associated with adult models. Many of its most popular creators are attractive women who use it to titillate men willing to pay a few extra dollars for a particular image. But Cardi B is part of a small but growing number of more traditional celebrities turning to OnlyFans to make a little extra revenue, raise money for charity or connect with followers in a new way.

In her first material for the site, posted on August 12, Cardi B uploaded a video from behind the scenes of her photo shoot for the cover of Elle magazine. A few weeks later, she shared footage from the making of her WAP music video. The post went on to generate several thousand likes on OnlyFans and almost US$1,000 in tips.


An image from Cardi B’s video for WAP, with Megan Thee Stallion (right).


“When Beyoncé rapped about us on the Savage remix and Cardi B joined the platform, that’s when we really started to see the growth accelerate,” said Tim Stokely, 37, the company’s founder and chief executive officer. According to Stokely, OnlyFans is adding as many as 500,000 users a day and paying out more than US$200 million a month to its creators.

Along the way, OnlyFans has grown into one of the biggest media businesses hiding in plain sight. The company has 85 million users, upwards of 1 million creators, and will generate more than US$2 billion in sales this year, of which it keeps about 20 per cent.

That puts the site on track for US$400 million in annual net sales – dwarfing Patreon, a platform devoted to helping creative types monetise their work, which is valued at more than US$1.2 billion. “OnlyFans is revolutionising creator and fan relations,” Stokely said.

What OnlyFans customers crave, said Stokely, is a level of interaction and intimacy with the creator that they don’t typically get on Instagram or Twitter, where celebrities tend to share the most manicured version of themselves.

But to keep gaining more mainstream appeal, the company will likely have to shake off its reputation as a den of online debauchery and assuage safety concerns about the site.


Tim Stokely is OnlyFans founder and CEO.


Its first successful creators were primarily alluring women. Jem Wolfie, a fitness model and chef in Australia, quickly earned more than US$1 million on the site by sharing spicy videos and photos of herself (Wolfie did not respond to an interview request).

Another popular account, Aellagirl, is run by Aella Jones, a devout Christian turned web siren. New subscribers are greeted by a naked photo of her captioned: “Welcome to the cult, we have boobies.”

“I like that it only takes 20 per cent, which is much lower than the prior industry standard of a 50 per cent minimum,” Jones wrote via email.

“I like that it’s much more strategic and disconnected than live camming was; live camming requires energy, personable charm, whereas OnlyFans really rewards things like good marketing ability and clever pricing techniques. I also get to interact with my fans throughout the day for very low effort, instead of having to put a lot of time in to get ready to do a full ‘show’.”

Many of the top creators spend a lot of time communicating directly with fans. Visitors are encouraged to provide a tip if they want a personalised message.


Jem Wolfie is one of the early success stories on OnlyFans.


Stokely has tried for years to get all types of creators to use the site. “It works as a great bolt-on to free social media,” he said.

“One of our selling pitches is, ‘Look, you’ve got a million followers on Instagram, if just 1 per cent of them pay for Only Fans …’” The average creator charges about US$12 per subscriber. By Stokely’s maths, if 1 per cent of Kim Kardashian’s Instagram followers paid for OnlyFans, she’d make US$23 million a month on the site.

Until this year, the business was growing at a steady pace. The pandemic boosted it to new heights thanks to people who are out of work and looking for a new way to make money at a time when everyone is stuck at home and desperate to be entertained.

Strippers and porn stars eager to make up for their lost earnings have flocked to OnlyFans, while regular strip-club customers have found a new place to get their jolt of excitement.

But it isn’t just the adult entertainers who have given OnlyFans a try. Musicians The Dream and Swae Lee have used it to promote new music.

Actress Bella Thorne hopped on the site and made US$1 million in one day. Drag queen Shea Couleé has filmed herself doing make-up before performances. And social media personality YesJulz has used it to share fitness workouts.


Bella Thorne made US$1 million in a day posting on the site.


After hearing about the service from some friends, Cardi B, a former stripper and reality-TV star turned multiplatinum rapper, reached out to her record label and to OnlyFans about setting up an account. “She had a vision for it,” said Julie Greenwald, the co-head of Atlantic Records. “For her, she thinks, ‘Who are my fans and how do I make sure I am delivering?’”

Stokely is now rushing to capitalise on the site’s growing popularity. The company, which is based in London, is setting up new offices in Asia and Latin America.

It is also planning to create a new online streaming service called OFTV, which will feature exclusive content such as creator-driven series and personal interviews with OnlyFans personalities.

And how will OnlyFans appeal to mainstream performers who might blanch at the thought of working with a site associated with adult entertainment?

“I’d just repeat that since we launched, we’ve always welcomed all creators,” said Stokely. “The creator community is incredibly diverse. There are just so many creators from so many genres, whether it’s gaming, fitness, fashion, beauty.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
×