Sex Sells: How OnlyFans Turned Fetish-Friendly Celebs and Porn Stars Into a Multibillion-Dollar Juggernaut That Rivals Legacy Studios
For the same amount of money it takes to buy one of Hollywood's five remaining major studios, some investor may walk away with the nine-year-old porn-friendly platform OnlyFans.
While Skydance's bid to buy Paramount in a deal valued at $8 billion continues to spark daily headlines, little-known Hollywood player The Forest Road's efforts to buy OnlyFans for $8 billion is playing out with far less fanfare. That's a stunning juxtaposition considering the Paramount portfolio consists of CBS, Showtime and the 'Godfather' trilogy, while popular content on OnlyFans includes pictures of Carmen Electra's feet and nudes of 'Wizards of Waverly Place' alum Dan Benson. It also signals an economic shift in the entertainment industry.
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'The name of the game is streaming and online content, and the OnlyFans $8 billion valuation could exceed the price tag of some legacy Hollywood studios, speaking to a new world for the industry where headwinds abound,' says Wall Street analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities.
But do the numbers add up? Many in Hollywood's private equity space are skeptical that Forest Road, which is led by Zachary Tarica and reportedly manages $127 million in assets, could raise $8 billion. The Century City-based film financier has occupied a niche space in Hollywood since 2017, backing such films as Maggie Gyllenhaal's 'The Kindergarten Teacher' for Netflix and Guy Nattiv's 'Skin' for A24. Few outside the AFM set are familiar with the company and its slate of films, which also includes 'The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre' and 'Chronicle of a Serial Killer.' In 2019, Forest Road invested in Yale Productions, which churned out low-budget movies like the 2023 Uma Thurman-Samuel L. Jackson pairing 'The Kill Room.'
Last month, Yale filed for bankruptcy, listing more than $55 million in liabilities against $18 million in assets. And in 2023, former Disney COO Thomas Staggs and onetime TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer stepped down from the Forest Road board. According to the SEC filing, Forest Road 'has expanded its specialty finance platform across blockchain, digital assets, technology, entertainment, real estate, renewable energy tax credit lending, film tax credit administration, and tax credit brokerage.'
But a source who has dealings with Forest Road says the company is legit. 'They are very much in touch with BlackRock, Ares and these monster funds,' the source says. 'They would not have any problem raising huge money on a deal like this.' (In October, Forest Road and Ares Management founders David Kaplan and Bennett Rosenthal bought a Formula E team.)
Forest Road did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
On the seller side, even less is known about Leonid Radvinsky, the 43-year-old majority owner of OnlyFans. The Soviet-born billionaire, who bought a 75% stake in OnlyFans' parent company Fenix International in 2018, has reportedly donated millions to causes involving Ukraine and Israel. (Radvinsky has denied that he pledged $11 million to Israel lobbying group AIPAC.) The father of four, who is partly based in Florida, does not do press. OnlyFans declined comment for this story.
While a potential Forest Road-OnlyFans transaction is shrouded in mystery, plenty is known about the parade of random celebrities who have migrated to the platform and how they are monetizing their brands. OnlyFans allows content creators to upload videos to their subscribers and takes 20% of their fees.
Initially, the content was mostly explicit, earning OnlyFans a reputation as a purveyor of pornography. Bella Thorne was an early adoptee, making $1 million on her first day on the platform, but faced backlash from the sex worker community, which labeled her a 'tourist.' More recently, a wide range of notable names have joined. 'Harry Potter' alum Jessie Cave, catering to a fetish community, posts videos of and sounds made by her hair. In response to criticism for taking the OnlyFans plunge, Lily Allen wrote in an X post: 'Imagine being an artist and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify but earning more money from having 1,000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet. Don't hate the player, hate the game.' Others, like rappers Cardi B and Trey Songz, offer behind-the-scenes content (including adult-oriented material in Songz's case). At one point, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea was among the top earners, but she has mostly left the platform in favor of Telegram.
The two biggest areas of growth for OnlyFans come via the comedy world and sports stars. While Whitney Cummings is the most high-profile comedian on the platform, having debuted two specials there, newbies are benefiting most.
In 2023, OnlyFans launched the grassroots comedy show 'LMAOF,' which highlighted up-and-coming comedians whose humor might be too risqué for mainstream audiences.
Some earnings have been wildly exaggerated. Blac Chyna reportedly pulled down $240 million from OnlyFans, but later said the true number was closer to $2 million.
Still, there is real money to be made. On June 11, model Sophie Rain, who is believed to be among the highest paid on the platform, posted a screenshot of her earnings from subscriptions alone since she joined in 2023. The figure was more than $76 million. (An OnlyFans source did not dispute that figure.)
'The Sopranos' star Drea de Matteo says she staved off foreclosure on her Laurel Canyon home by starting a page and posting racy content.
'I got myself out of a lien on my house. I was in foreclosure,' she tells Variety. 'But then the men are fickle and they drop off, and, you know, I'm not like super freaking naked all the time. People know that. Like it's more of a me-and-my-panties vibes. So if you really want to make the big bucks, you gotta go full-on.'
Adds de Matteo: 'I was a moderate success. But to be totally honest, I wasn't Bella Thorne. It saved my life, and now I have to think about doing other things because it won't sustain.'
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