Her marketing via shock tactics only reflects the outrage economy we’ve created
November 11, 2024 7:00 am
If you, like me, suffer from Chronically Online Syndrome, your social feeds have recently been soundtracked by the orchestra of outrage surrounding the OnlyFans adult content creator Bonnie Blue.
Blue now boasts earning upwards of £500,000 a month on OnlyFans after quitting her nine-to-five job in recruitment for the lucrative world of porn. But her success comes at a price – the discourse surrounding her specific niche and its morality (or lack thereof) have been inescapable.
In a crowded market of three million OnlyFans content creators, Blue understood the need to stand out from her competitors. As she told the Saving Grace podcast: “The content I was making to start with was the same as everyone else… Like, why would someone subscribe?” So she carved out a USP: sleeping with “hundreds” of “barely legal” 18- and 19-year-olds at university student-heavy events like freshers’ weeks in Nottingham, UK and Schoolies (Australian school-leavers’ events) on the Gold Coast. In lieu of a cash payment, Blue’s sexual partners had to consent to appearing in videos for her OnlyFans page, where she claims to have made £3m this year.
Blue’s marketing tactics are, to put it lightly, upfront. A photo from her (very NSFW) social accounts shows her holding up a sign that reads “Uni students, bonk me and let me film it” near a university campus in Nottingham. She relishes “taking virginities”.
I am by no means the first to point out the moral tightrope Blue balances on. Bitter backlash has been bubbling away on X for weeks. Online, the accusation levelled at Blue is that she is “predatory” and “manipulative” for targeting young men just out of college and sixth form. Teenagers who consent to have sex with her on camera might not fully understand the long-term repercussions of appearing in pornography, and nor will they profit from it, as Blue takes 100 per cent of the earnings. Her critics are getting louder. A petition calling for the cancellation of her Australian visa has just passed 22,000 signatures.
Blue, though, has defended her work, telling Cosmopolitan: “I receive backlash for sleeping with barely legal 18-year-olds, but the key word in that sentence is ‘legal’. Rather than comment on my TikToks, people should complain to the government to increase the age of appearing in adult content from 18 to 21, [as] I’m only complying with UK law.” Blue’s other approach to judgement is simply to brush it off, framing this disparagement as an archaic response to a woman freely enjoying sex – and profiting from it.
Either way, it’s working for her. The more criticism is heaped on Blue, the more famous she becomes. She’s appeared on a slew of podcasts popular with under-25s including Dream On with Lottie Moss and Saving Grace with popular TikTokker GKBarry (real name Grace Keeling), and with each appearance, Blue drives more disputation. She has claimed, for instance, that she is happy to “help” men cheat on their “lazy” wives if they aren’t having enough sex at home, a remark that earned her more online indignation. So the cycle continues.
When asked whether she deliberately makes inflammatory comments in an interview with Metro, Blue replied: “Half the things I do, yes, it’s marketing, but it is also true, because you have some people in this industry who will tell stories just for media coverage. But I don’t earn money from the media. I only earn money when people purchase the OnlyFans video.”
Most concerning of all is Blue’s growing influence on TikTok, where 36 per cent of users are under 25. Yes, some viewers are outraged, but Blue has her share of admirers too. Comments under a recent interview with her read: “It’s going to end with her retired at 29 and a multi-multi-millionaire”, “She’s literally so smart,” “She’s a businesswoman for real, gotta rate the hustle” and – from a man, alarmingly – “Hate all you want, this is the empowerment you asked for”.
Whether her act is authentic is almost besides the point: she has already succeeded in grabbing our attention (and cash). Should she wish, Blue is poised to follow others down the porn star-to-mainstream-celebrity pipeline, like Chloe Cherry, star of teen drama Euphoria, and Mia Khalifa
In an age where shock value is commodified and moral lines are blurred, Bonnie Blue is a reflection of the outrage economy we have created, where clicks, controversy and profits intersect. Blue’s story may be one of sexual agency, but it forces us to confront an uncomfortable reality: in a marketplace of attention, scandal sells. And we are all buyers.
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