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Irish Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Bonnie Blue: Why the free-sex ‘content creator' is nauseating and wrong
In the totality of human existence, so goes the cliche, the best time to be alive is now. I believe it. We can gesture to a kind of ambient liberalism, a better organising principle for society than anything else we have managed to come up with so far. Then there's all the stuff about literacy rates, women's suffrage, epidemiology and declining crime. There have always been war, pestilence and suffering, but in sum there is just less of it now than ever. I hold this idea as foundational to my thinking. Well, nothing has come along to shake my commitment to the principle more than a 26-year-old porn star from Derbyshire in the English midlands. Perhaps I did not cling to the axiom as robustly as I once thought if the whims of just one person can make me question it. But forgive me and all the moralising prudishness about to spill out, because I suspect my feelings on the question – as visceral as they are – will be shared. If not, perhaps everything is even worse than I thought. READ MORE The innocent among us might not be familiar with the name Bonnie Blue, a nom de plume for Tia Billinger. She is a former recruitment agent and NHS staffer who turned to porn out of professional boredom. She makes her money – sometimes as much as an estimated £2 million (€2.3 million) a month – on the 'content creation platform' OnlyFans , where she charges a fee for people to watch her increasingly extreme sexual stunts. She is now permanently banned from OnlyFans. The latest stunt saw 1,057 men line up to have sex with her over the course of 12 hours. Another saw her offer free sex with fresher students at Nottingham Trent University, so long as she could film it and dispense it on her OnlyFans account. OnlyFans finally baulked and refused to host her next planned stunt – whereby she would be tied up in a glass box in public at the mercy of any sexual act anyone wanted to perform on her. I am glad they found a limit somewhere, even if that proverbial line was crossed years and miles ago. The phenomenon of Bonnie Blue, however, is not too far for Tuesday night's Channel 4 documentary 1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story. The broadcaster said it wanted to tell stories at the edge of modern morality. And I applaud their interest in doing so in the abstract. The Bonnie Blue problem, however, is that everyone who engages with it is simply too credulous and forgiving. Take, for example, the tiniest effort made by the director to push back on Billinger's chosen career path. 'In terms of feminism, are you not maybe sending us backwards?' she asked the 'actress'. I don't know if I have ever heard a challenge quite so mealy-mouthed and equivocating. Look elsewhere: thousands of words of think pieces dedicated to the woman and her sexual deviancy, asking meandering questions about whether Billinger is a champion of libertarianism or a victim of latent patriarchy. The Guardian signed off its review of the documentary with this: 'Do I admire her work ethic and facility for business? Yes ...' One long interview in the London Times last weekend complimented her manner and expressed discontent at her promiscuity, but never quite said what it clearly wanted to: this is all nauseating, horrifying, wrong. If this is the best the commentariat can muster then I'll say it. There are no qualifications to be made here, no actuallys, no chin-stroking: there is nothing redemptive about the Bonnie Blue story; we do not have to credit her work ethos out of some nonsense commitment to balance and fairness; there is nothing of value to all of this pretend nuance. This is something only a villainous society – with no sense of shame or mutual care – would prohibit. Bonnie Blue is a victim of sexual forces she has helped foment. She has abettors, but she is as responsible as they are. The men involved are gross: this much is easy for anyone to recognise. They are also suffering the extent of this warped, sexually permissive culture. I could dig deep into my soul and still find nothing positive or neutral to say about any of it. Billinger is not the first to reveal the immutable flaws of liberal feminism, though I suspect she has helped turbocharged its demise. Women used to cherish the mantra 'my body, my choice' as a shorthand for these gently liberating politics. It was a rhetorical route to necessary and long-denied rights. Well, here we are – thanks to Bonnie Blue; thanks to OnlyFans; thanks to anyone who explains all of this away as just a function of market forces; thanks to the internet and the virality machine – with 'my-body, my-choice' exploited for totally immoral ends, and the principles of liberal feminism abused beyond use. And we are left in search of a new system, because any one that has led us here is irredeemably corrupt.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story review – the troubling tale of sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours
For those of you pure of heart and internet search history, Bonnie Blue (real name: Tia Billinger) is famous for being one of the most popular and highest-earning content creators to have appeared on more-or-less porn site OnlyFans. To fulfil her ambition of earning £5m a month from subscribers she needed a USP. She found it in pursuing 'barely legal' sex – traditionally one of the most searched-for terms in porn – with the twist that instead of men searching for videos of other men having sex with teenage (or teenage-looking, depending on how many internet layers you're prepared to sift through for your purposes) girls, Billinger offered herself to young men. She had sex with them for free on condition that they gave permission for her to upload the footage to her OnlyFans account, where her subscribers pay to access her content. 'She is a marketing genius,' says one of the team she has gathered round her to help administrate her growing empire. She has, in essence, introduced an entirely new way of doing porn-business. If she were working in any other field – if she had stayed in her previous job as a finance recruiter for the NHS, perhaps – and innovated to the same extent, she would probably be hailed as an extraordinary entrepreneur. She also specialises in gang bangs, putting calls out on her social media channels for volunteers ('I'm in London, on my back, and I'd like your load'), with no shortage of willing participants. 1000 Men and Me: the Bonnie Blue Story is a documentary by Victoria Silver, who became aware of Billinger's existence through what the algorithm was serving up to Silver's 15-year-old daughter on her social media feeds. It follows Bonnie/Tia as she prepares for ('1,600 condoms, 50 balaclavas, numbing lube') and executes her most infamous endeavour – having sex with 1,000 (1,057, it turns out – 'barely legal or barely breathing … come and rearrange my insides') men in 12 hours. It proved too extreme for OnlyFans – or at least for Visa, who processes its online payments – and she has since had to move elsewhere to continue her campaign for lucrative online-world domination. Naturally, the media – online, legacy and everything in between – has had a field day with all this. They've labelled her everything from predator to victim (she denies both, saying she has no 'daddy issues', no trauma in her past and none induced by her work since). She has been accused of being a traitor ('you're giving into the patriarchy'), and has received multitudinous insults ('disgusting, deplorable slapper' is one we hear from an online commenter). Although Silver's six months in Billinger's company doesn't provide much in the way of decisive evidence or insight, it does show the star to be as steely in her approach to her career as she is Stakhanovite in her labours. When she needs to court attention, the easiest way is often to insult the wives and girlfriends of the men who watch her and come to her events. 'I just loved … knowing I was doing something their wives should have done.' She recommends bringing their partners' underwear along. 'I'll make them smell MUCH nicer'. And just remember, she confides to camera, 'that if a girl says she's on her period, there's nothing wrong with her throat.' But, Silver remains essentially unconfrontational in her approach, and no match for one as robust and unfazed by other people's opinions as Billinger. The latter claims that her career is what feminism has fought for 'for years and years'. So, if young girls are seeing her content and fearing that this is what they should be offering boys? Then it's up to their parents to teach them that it's not for everyone. The idea of a collective or social responsibility, any considerations beyond the purely individual and/or financial gain no traction. Silver rarely pushes back, even when Billinger recruits visibly nervous, deliberately young-looking female content creators for a video in a 'sex education lesson' where performers roleplay students – she asks nothing about possible harms to them or in encouraging male fantasies around girls too young to consent. The basilisk Blue stare seems to hold her in its thrall. There are only perhaps two moments that, for me, come close to revealing anything about Billinger, and even these are only a measure of – maybe – how deep the traits she has already willingly shown us run. The first is her comment: 'Everyone says my brain works different. I'm just not emotional … If I don't want to get upset, I won't get upset.' It reminds me of the statistics that show a high proportion of CEOs and the like – and what is Billinger if not her own CEO – are technically sociopaths. And the second is that when she computes the risk of being insulted in the street she says: 'At least they're getting off the sofa.' This 26-year-old woman who spurned university as unnecessary, was driving a Mercedes C-class by the age of 19, and bought a house shortly thereafter. Hard graft seems to be a high calling, laziness the only sin. Do I admire her work ethic and facility for business? Yes. Do I wish we lived in a world where the best option for realising those talents as a young woman was not through making online porn? Yes. Do I see where we go from here? Yes, I do. And Billinger will be fine. Beyond that individual? Not so much. Not so much. 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story is available on Channel 4.
Extra.ie
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Bonnie Blue's documentary slammed for 'disgusting' scenes
Bonnie Blue's highly criticised Channel 4 documentary aired on Tuesday night, with a number of viewers taking to social media to share their distaste at the more graphic scenes. The doc, titled 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story, followed the controversial adult star during her world record-breaking event where she slept with over one thousand men in just 12 hours. Upon its announcement, the TV special was bashed by many online, who slammed the broadcaster for giving the provocative star a platform. Bonnie Blue's highly criticised Channel 4 documentary aired on Tuesday night, with a number of viewers taking to social media to share their distaste at the more graphic scenes. Pic: Bonnie Blue via Instagram Defending their decision to broadcast the show, Channel 4 says: 'Part of Channel 4s remit is to reflect modern Britain, and stimulate debate amongst viewers. A film such as this, exploring changing attitudes to sex, success, porn and feminism, in an ever evolving online world, is an important addition to those conversations'. The channel went on to say: 'Tia Billinger, via her stage name Bonnie Blue, has gained worldwide attention and millions of pounds in the last year'. '1000 Men and Me, is an observational documentary in which director Victoria Silver, follows Tia (Bonnie) over the course of six months. The film questions her methods and the divisive style of her social media and hears from colleagues and collaborators in order to understand her polarising business model'. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Channel 4 (@channel4) After the series aired on Tuesday night, viewers took to social media in their droves to discuss how graphic scenes from her 1,000 men event were broadcast in poor taste. The programme warned of 'strong language, full frontal nudity, graphic scenes of a sexual nature and content you may find offensive,' however some viewers were still taken aback by what made the cut. 'UK Introduces Online Safety Act 'to protect children', but days later (last night)… Channel 4 broadcasts what is effectively a Bonnie Blue porno on national TV. MAKES NO SENSE. (the doc is also disgusting),' one user wrote. The doc, titled 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story, followed the controversial adult star during her world record breaking event where she slept with over one thousand med in just 12 Bonnie Blue via Instagram 'I'm only 15 minutes into this Bonnie Blue documentary on Channel 4 and yeah…. vomit,' another penned. 'Only caught a couple of minutes of this #BonnieBlue documentary tonight on Channel 4. Just 2 words come to mind… Sick and depraved!' a third shared. Earlier this year, the adult star was permanently banned from OnlyFans following her escapades. The move came after the porn star had expressed her plans to sleep with 2,000 men in a single day in a stunt she has labelled 'Bonnie Blue's Petting Zoo.' Following the announcement, a OnlyFans spokesperson told Metro: 'Extreme challenge content is not available on OnlyFans and is not permitted under our Acceptable Use Policy and Terms of Service. 'Any breach of our Terms of Service results in content or account deactivation… This is why it has been necessary to take this action. We always act when users breach our terms of service.' When the publication asked how long Bonnie's ban will be in place for, OnlyFans replied: 'The ban is permanent.'
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
I watched Bonnie Blue's degrading documentary with her father. I'm not sure either of us will recover
Watching Channel 4's documentary 1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story (which aired last night) will make you feel dirty. And not in a good way. Just grubby, sleazy and as if you need to scour it from your skin. You can almost smell the hired house where she has sex with more than 1,000 men in 12 hours, bodily fluids combined with the stench of their Sports Direct socks as they queue down the stairs, trainers off, to join in the gang bang. She'd promised to pleasure all-comers 'whether you're barely legal or barely breathing'. Some of them wear balaclavas to hide their identities. Some of them, according to her, wear wedding rings. Afterwards, Bonnie jokes around by lying on the sticky floor, amid hundreds of used condoms, in the way that children make snow angels. If the name means nothing to you, let me quickly explain. Bonnie (real name Tia Billinger) was one of the top earners on the OnlyFans website, until she was banned for being too extreme. She used to work in financial recruitment for the NHS but found it boring, so switched careers. Her business model is having sex with strangers – she first found notoriety by standing outside Nottingham Trent university holding a sign saying 'uni students bonk me and let me film it' – for free, but charging her subscribers to watch the resulting videos. She claims to earn between £500,000 and £2m a month for this. Bonnie says she loves her job, and if you tune into the documentary thinking that it will expose this as a hollow lie, you'll be disappointed. She really does seem to enjoy it, showing no signs of trauma after the 1,000-men stunt. 'Everyone says that my brain works different. I'm just not emotional,' she says, and there is an odd blankness to her behaviour and her speech, a bit like Katie Price. She seems simultaneously smart, with her ability to come out with snappy statements designed for maximum virality on social media, and stupid, in the way she talks about feeling 'empowered' and fails to see how saying things like, 'I would love you to rearrange my insides' and, 'treat me like your sl-t' to strangers on the internet might be harmful to women in general. Her favourite thing, she says, is having sex with 18-year-olds (she is, according to Wikipedia, 26 or 27). To keep making big money, Bonnie must become ever more extreme. One of her announced stunts, kiboshed by OnlyFans (which she probably knew would happen), was to be tied up in a glass box in public while men were allowed to come and do what they wanted to her. 'I'm going to be completely helpless – tied, gagged, choked. You can just watch me like you would a zoo animal.' It was going to be called Bonnie Blue's Petting Zoo. She has a full-time publicist to help her with this stuff. At the press screening for the documentary, she described Andrew Tate as 'a really nice guy' because he was 'well-dressed and turned up on time' to a podcast recording. Tate is facing charges of rape and human trafficking, which he denies. She says the two of them are the two most misunderstood people in the public eye. You might be thinking that Bonnie's parents are horrified by her life choices. Nope. They're on the payroll. Also at the screening I attended were Bonnie's mum, dad and granny. They sat in the front row with another member of the entourage who brought popcorn. Bonnie's mum says she is very proud of her, even helping to make the 'bonk me' sign in Nottingham (perhaps she suggested the wording, because 'bonk' is a curiously Carry On phrase for a 20-something hardcore porn star). 'If you could earn a million pounds in a month, your morals would soon change and you'd get your bits out,' her mum asserts in the film. Presumably, the grandmother also approves, or she wouldn't have been here. Bonnie has said that her dad 'loves' what she does. Maybe. While her friends and other members of the family giggled away throughout the screening, he didn't crack a smile. But nor did he take his eyes off the screen, even in the moments where she was being 'gang banged' (her favoured turn of phrase) or showing her face covered in semen after she had sex with 100 porn stars in a day. This last stunt sounded particularly unpleasant: 'She basically just got beat up for a few hours,' says her videographer. What was going through her father's head as he heard that? As for Channel 4 showing this? It is an uncritical film, with director Victoria Silver occasionally asking the gentlest of questions – 'In terms of feminism, are you not maybe sending us backwards?' – but failing to challenge the answers, as if she is slightly in awe of her subject. The sex scenes are shown briefly, but are edited to look almost glamorous. The low point comes when Bonnie enlists fledgling OnlyFans creators to make their first porn film, in which they dress up in school uniform and pretend to be teenagers in a school sex-education class. One of them is 21, but admits that she gets subscribers because she looks underage. Bonnie doesn't pay them – they're just thrilled to have the exposure that comes from being linked to her. They are visibly nervous. It feels horribly exploitative. I know directors have to stand back, but I'd have been fighting the urge to scoop them up and send them home. Channel 4 says it wants to chart the post-pandemic shift in the acceptability of adult content creation, and that it is a legitimate, if depressing, subject to explore. But when Silver says in her voiceover that 'all the attention is helping to make Bonnie a household name', surely she can see that her film is doing exactly the same thing? If by some miracle you've managed to keep your children from seeing this sort of thing on social media, now they can see it on a public service broadcaster. You can imagine impressionable girls watching it, taking at face value Bonnie's blithe pronouncements that there are no emotional or physical costs to this type of 'work', and thinking it a good career choice. The nice, Oxford-educated chap from Channel 4 who introduced the film said that the broadcaster's role is to tell stories 'at the edges of modern morality'. I think we're over the edge here.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Is there anything Bonnie Blue won't do? After filming herself having sex with 1,000 men and being accused of promoting rape culture she tells KATHRYN KNIGHT she's unrepentant – and planning even more extreme stunts
Back in the days when she was just an ordinary girl from a Derbyshire village, Tia Billinger had ambitions to be a midwife. In the end, put off by the long years of study and poor pay, she decided against it.
