OnlyFans agents threaten creators and take half their earnings, BBC finds

Rebecca, a 29-year-old OnlyFans creator from south Wales, says an agency she joined after it promised to boost her earnings instead abused her, threatened her daughter and sent masked men to attack her at home.

"They were lovely at the beginning," she told BBC Three. The managers praised her looks and said they had "never seen a girl" like her, she said. Within weeks they became controlling, insulted her appearance and barred her from seeing friends.

After she changed her account login details, she received a message that read: "I will have you and your daughter wrote off." A brick smashed her window days later. Two masked men then arrived at her house; one strangled her and threw her down the stairs, she said. She showed the BBC photos of bruises on her legs and throat.

Her account forms part of a wider pattern of complaints against OnlyFans managers, or OFMs. The BBC spoke to 60 UK creators and joined a private Telegram group called OFM Empire that has 24,000 members. Inside the group, agents discussed signing creators, taking control of their accounts and using threats of violence to keep them, with one user calling the approach the "pimp method."

OnlyFans, based in the UK, has faced similar allegations for at least four years. The platform takes a 20% cut of earnings. Its operator, Fenix International Limited, reported pre-tax profits of $684 million in its latest accounts. OFMs typically take another 50% of a creator's pre-tax income, and some contracts reviewed by the BBC gave managers up to 70%.

Creators said managers demanded full login access, changed passwords to lock them out, altered bank details and imposed fines for early exits. One creator said her manager sold an explicit video for less than $40 after promising a minimum price of $250. Another said she was told she would have to pay £10,000 to reduce the manager's share.

An OnlyFans spokesperson said the company takes safety seriously, meets its duties under the Online Safety Act and is not party to contracts between creators and third-party agencies. The company said it restricts accounts and investigates when concerns are raised.

Eleanor Lyons, the UK's independent anti-slavery commissioner, said Rebecca's experience showed recognised signs of exploitation and called for closer government scrutiny. Ofcom said the testimony was "deeply concerning" but noted that offences committed entirely offline fall outside the Online Safety Act.

Rebecca has since joined a new agency run by women. She said she hopes to leave OnlyFans one day and open a horse-riding school.