Hélène Boudreau Told Us What She Thinks About OnlyFans Reversing Its Sexual Content Ban

A week after news broke that OnlyFans would ban "sexually explicit" content, the popular content-sharing platform reversed its decision, taking its vast community of adult content creators on an emotional rollercoaster ride. One such creator was Quebec's Hélène Boudreau, who is known for her famously revealing UQAM grad photo.

Last week, Boudreau told MTL Blog she was in a "very stressful situation" since her main source of income is OnlyFans. She also said she didn't put in an offer on a converted church she was considering buying in case she didn't have a job in a few months' time.

So how is Boudreau feeling about OnlyFans and the state of the sex work industry now?

While Boudreau no longer has to worry about losing 95% of her monthly income, she told Narcity Québec that sex workers are left with the lingering feeling of being "used" by OnlyFans.

"I was very shocked that they were banning porn because that's what made them famous and made them rich. They made a lot of money off of us and now they're telling us, 'Bye, we don't need you anymore,'" Boudreau said.

"After three days, they tell us 'No, we want you, come.' We feel really used. We feel like they are laughing at us. It's completely ridiculous because this is our job. [...] It is not done. We feel we are being manipulated and then we feel like going elsewhere."

Boudreau said she believes OnlyFans suspended the planned changes after seeing how many sex workers spoke out about leaving the platform or creating their own platforms. She said OnlyFans likely saw how much money they'd lose with creators closing their accounts due to the news.

"It's like if Lay's announces they're not selling chips anymore and everyone says, "Come on, what are you going to sell us?" Lay's announces they're just selling us the empty bag. Everyone is like, "But we're buying Lay's because we want the chips and not the bag," Boudreau said.

She said she's learned that you can't rely on platforms — OnlyFans or otherwise. That's why, she said, she has Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and more "as backups because you never know if OnlyFans is going to close overnight."

"It's hard enough being in sex work. We get bashed, ridiculed, judged and our own platform kicks us out. It's really hard on morale sometimes," Boudreau said.

"Even if OnlyFans bans us, even if we lose our Instagram or our Facebook, porn and sex are still going to exist. I don't see why every platform is fighting to erase us. [...] The world buys our content, so we're not the ones to blame. It's supply and demand."