While the OnlyFans outrage resulted in the company backpedaling on their attempted change of what they would host on the platform, OnlyFans performers and social media sensations Rick & Griff Twombley-King have already unleashed their own merch and sex toys, and now have become even more of an internet sensation with their hilarious and spot-on meme ‘Sex Workers in The City’ which merged one of Carrie Bradshaw’s most well-known moments along with the plight that faced sex workers with OnlyFans. The boys touched base with me again on where the idea for the meme came from & their thoughts on OnlyFans & sex work as a whole.
Michael Cook: Your ‘Sex Workers In The City’ meme was brilliant. Which one of you came up with the idea and how has the response been?
Rick & Griff: Our boyfriend was actually the one who got the light bulb over his head with that one. It was a bit serendipitous, because the three of us were watching #SATC when OnlyFans officially announced their “revised” terms. I said “Wow. they really are going to do this” LITERALLY as that scene came up in the movie. Our boyfriend sat straight up and pointed at the TV with this “OMG” look on his face. Then the light bulb went off over Griffs head, and he says. “Let me get my computer. Ill be right back.” It was actually great to spend the afternoon focusing on creating something humorous to make people laugh, rather than getting swept up in the hysteria and panic.
MC: Out of the two, who would Carrie smacking Mr. Big?
R&G: I mean, I (Rick) look scarily like SJP when I do my Sarah Sanderson drag look for Halloween…plus I’m a planner and always execute my plans to conclusion, and Griff is a bit more ‘Go With the Flow,’ so in this scenario he’d be Big I guess. Except we both showed up for our wedding, and it was fabulous and no one got smacked with a bouquet.
MC: For someone who does not understand the intention here – Explain what the meme stands for?
R&G: Basically it’s a metaphor for putting your faith into a toxic relationship, knowing in the back of your mind that you’re probably going to end up heartbroken and humiliated in public with a fucking giant blue bird pinned to your head …and then after defending your partner endlessly to your friends for years, your partner does exactly what you always worried they would do. And your friends are left to pick up the pieces
MC: What was your initial reaction when OnlyFans announced they were banning explicit content?
R&G: Well, it wasn’t them that “announced” anything officially, because even when the first articles began to circulate, they were telling creators not to worry, the information was misconstrued, we had nothing to worry about, yadda yadda , and that any changes in their Terms would come through official channels, not through the media. Then two days later, everyone got the email that their Terms were changing in Oct. when I saw that email, my stomach dropped. Not because it was official, but because I’d believed what I was told when I reached out, and posted screenshots of our correspondence all over our social media to try and calm people down. So a bit of shock, disbelief, betrayal…but also “Ok, now what?”
MC: Did you have a backup plan in place in case this was implemented? Perhaps, exploring other sites to showcase your content or perhaps launch your own site?
R&G: Yes, we’ve always been on other platforms like Just For Fans and Fansly. What this did though, was give a lot of very creative and talented people out their the spark to be the next big thing if/when OnlyFans unreverses it’s “reversal.’ We had a very talented web designer reach out to us and pitched us some unbelievably cool ideas, so there’s something fun in the works down that road. And creators of a few upcoming content sites like Fincher contacted us and told us what they have coming, and they also impressed us with their concepts and business plans. Lots of exciting things on the horizon, with or without OnlyFans.
MC: Now OnlyFans decided to reverse their ban against explicit content – What are your thoughts? Why do you think they changed their mind?
R&G: Someone in their boardroom must have finally woken up and said “oh fuck, where’s all our money going?” Or maybe whoever was offering to buy the company saw the immense backlash and the terrible image problems developing in the mainstream media , and decided buying a company that would go bankrupt by Christmas (without its adult content creators) wasn’t the smartest move. my personal thoughts are this: what they attempted to do to the people who built them, for whatever reason, was despicable, and the trust is definitely broken. But, I’m also a business man and we still have a successful and functioning OnlyFans page where the majority of our fans go to see our content. I’m fine profiting off of their platform as long as we’re allowed. They used us to become successful, we’re fine using them right back (as long as the checks clear).
MC: Finally, how has OnlyFans changed Sex Work?
R&G:OnlyFans changed sex work by giving the success of its creators visibility and validity in a more “mainstream” environment. But it took time to get there.
When OnlyFans started, a lot of people judged it and the adult content creators on it. we lost friends who looked down their nose at the idea, or thought it was weird, or climbed onto their moral high horses. But then, after a few years, Sex Workers (including us) were buying homes, cars, paying off debt, and becoming financially independent in a way you can’t with most “conventional” jobs…safely, consensually, legally and from the comfort of those new homes. A lot of people changed their tunes very quickly when they saw how much the work paid off. A good reminder to everyone that sex sells, always has and always will.
Hopefully that visibility and validity continues to grow and expand and finally root out the puritanical shit stirrers who want to censor everything and force us all to pretend sex doesn’t exist, all while hiding in a closet in their basements jerking off to ‘content.’ Content we’re happy to provide for them, by the way…for $9.99/month.
Follow Rick & Griff on social media: https://linktr.ee/rickandgriff
You are really that miserable with your life, huh?
I’ve seen their twitter 🙂 They have some sexy gay boys on there.