An Irish OnlyFans star has insisted there is nothing exploitative about the way she earns her living.

On The Hard Shoulder yesterday, 23-year-old Jasmin Heaney told Newstalk reporter Josh Crosbie that she makes up to €20,000 a month through the adult website.

OnlyFans allows users to pay a monthly fee to subscribe to individual content creators and see exclusive pictures and videos as they are uploaded.

    

Yesterday’s report kicked off a big debate on social media and, on the show this evening, cyber safety expert Jason O’Mahony said he was ‘kind of blown away’ by what he heard.

“There is an expectation we would have when we are educating people about online safety that Irish people are not going to be affected by some of the harsher avenues of harm out there,” he said.

“So, when I heard people who were, in my opinion, promoting having an OnlyFans account it was a cause of concern for me.”

Harm

He warned that not everybody who opens an OnlyFans profile will make money and insisted that users are opening themselves up to huge potential for harm.

“I am not going to tell you as an adult what you should or shouldn’t do but I will say that the concept of pornography empowering women is considered a porn myth,” he said.

“To be able to leave that industry is difficult as well because someone can get into the mindset of, well I got into this on my own and maybe this is all I am worth.

“So, you are affecting somebody right down to their core beliefs and that can have very traumatic consequences.”

We had a huge reaction to our report on #OnlyFans yesterday, and it kicked off a big debate on social media. We’re going back to @heaney_Jasmin, one of the women who uses the platform and we’re also hearing from @COTDAge, an expert in cyber safety now on @NewstalkFM pic.twitter.com/gKgydR0p9K

— The Hard Shoulder (@TheHardShoulder) September 3, 2020

Ms Heaney returned to the show this evening to discuss the reaction to yesterday’s report.

She said there is nothing exploitative about the way she earns her living.

“I choose what I post,” she said. “That is like saying I am exploiting myself in a sense.

“I’m comfortable with what I post. I don’t post anything I don’t want to post and therefore I am in complete control over what goes on and what people see.

“It is not like I am being pressured or pushed by anybody or forced into posting anything because it is up to me to press send.

“It is up to me to record or take a picture. There is no other person there with me telling we what to do; I am in complete control.”

Consent

She said that, at 23-years-old, she is a consenting adult – and noted that there are strict controls in place on the site to ensure everyone is over 18.

“You are a grown adult when you access this website,” she said. “You know exactly what you are getting involved with.

“It is not impressionable teenagers that are accessing this website. It is grown women choosing and understanding the terms and conditions of what you are signing up to."

Relationships

She said the job has made it difficult for her to build relationships – but insisted that does not worry her.

“To be honest, I don’t think I want anyone in my life that doesn’t accept me and what I do so therefor, I am kind of happy and glad that it does stop me from forming relationships with these people,” she said.

“At the end of the day, this is who I am and this is what I do and if you don’t accept that, I don’t want a relationship with you.”

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