OnlyFans Managers Accused of Controlling Creators, Taking Up to 70% of Earnings and Using Threats
Creators report password lockouts, redirected payouts and violence; experts flag exploitation signs as MPs call for inquiry
New Delhi: Self-styled OnlyFans managers, commonly known as OFMs, promise creators that they can increase their earnings and visibility on the platform. However, dozens of UK-based creators have accused some OFMs of taking control of their accounts, demanding commissions of 50% or more and, in some contracts, as much as 70%.
Creators have also accused some managers of pressuring them to produce increasingly explicit content. In some cases, creators said managers threatened them or used violence.
These allegations come from interviews with around 60 UK creators, contracts reviewed during reporting and material from a large private Telegram group used by OnlyFans managers. Human-rights experts and lawyers who examined the cases said the reported patterns of control, coercion and financial pressure show recognised signs of exploitation.
OnlyFans, operated by London-based Fenix International Limited, takes a standard 20% fee from creators’ earnings. The company has reported substantial pre-tax profits in recent financial filings.
As OnlyFans has grown, a largely unregulated industry of managers and agencies has also developed around the platform. These operators usually provide services such as marketing, content scheduling, data analysis and 24-hour fan messaging, known as “chatting”. Teams based in countries with lower labour costs often handle this messaging.
In return, managers take a share of creators’ pre-tax earnings. Some agencies provide professional services and help creators grow their businesses. However, creators and investigators say some management arrangements have crossed into coercive and exploitative behaviour.
Specific Cases Reported
One of the most detailed cases involves Rebecca, a 29-year-old creator from south Wales.
Rebecca told investigators that she joined an agency after its managers praised her appearance and promised to increase her earnings. However, she said the relationship quickly became controlling.
According to Rebecca, the managers insulted her appearance, restricted her social life and kept full access to her OnlyFans account.
Rebecca later changed her login details because she feared the managers would lock her out of the account. She then received messages that threatened her and her daughter. The messages included statements such as “I will have you and your daughter wrote off” and referred to her home address.
Someone later threw a brick through her window.
Weeks later, Rebecca said two masked men came to her home. She said one of them entered the house, strangled her and threw her down the stairs.
Rebecca showed photographs of bruises on her legs and throat. She said she believed her former managers had links to the attacks.
She has since moved to a different management arrangement led by women.
Another creator, Leanne, 33, signed a contract that gave her manager access to her account. The manager could also change the email address linked to the account. The agreement gave the manager 50% of Leanne’s pre-tax earnings after OnlyFans took its own share.
Leanne said she clearly told the manager that she did not want to make explicit videos. However, she said the manager repeatedly pressured her to do so.
She eventually filmed one explicit video after agreeing that the manager would not sell it for less than $250. The manager later sold the video for less than $40.
Leanne said the experience made her feel “physically sick” and degraded. She later left the platform.
Other creators who spoke anonymously described similar problems.
Some said managers changed their passwords and locked them out of their accounts. Others said managers changed bank details so that payments went directly to them.
Some creators also accused managers of reporting lower earnings than they actually made. Others said managers demanded large fees when they tried to leave their agencies.
In one case, a creator said a manager told her that she would have to pay £10,000 if she wanted to reduce the manager’s commission.
Several creators said managers threatened them with legal action, account deletion or physical harm when they tried to leave or renegotiate their contracts.
One creator, identified as Riley, contacted OnlyFans support in 2024 after seeing discussions in manager groups about buying and selling creators’ contracts without the creators’ knowledge.
Riley said OnlyFans told her that it did not have enough evidence to take action.
A survey of the approximately 60 UK creators interviewed found that 83% said managers had pressured them to produce more explicit content than they wanted.
The same survey found that 60% said managers had threatened them when they tried to leave their agency.
Established creators have also spoken publicly about the issue.
Gia Clarke, who has posted content on OnlyFans since its early days, said OFMs contact her more often than fans do. She described some managers as “predatory”. However, she also said professional support can help creators when managers provide it without abusing their position.
High-earning creator Lily Phillips has also highlighted the lack of regulation. She said the absence of clear rules creates opportunities for people to take advantage of vulnerable creators.
How the OnlyFans Management Industry Works
OFMs include individual operators as well as large and organised agencies.
Some individual managers work with only one or a few creators. These managers can include partners or people who left traditional jobs to enter the OnlyFans management business.
Larger agencies operate with several employees and specialised teams.
The industry commonly uses several different business models.
Full-service management agencies handle most of the business side of a creator’s account. They can manage fan messages, content planning, pricing, promotion and day-to-day account operations.
These agencies frequently charge creators 50% or more of their revenue.
Traffic agencies mainly focus on attracting new subscribers. They use advertising, social media promotion and other marketing methods to increase traffic to a creator’s account.
Specialised chatting operations focus on communicating with fans. Chatters send direct messages, promote pay-per-view content and sell custom-made material.
Many agencies employ chatting teams in other countries. These teams handle a large part of the communication with fans and help generate significant revenue through pay-per-view and custom-content sales.
Contracts often give managers complete login access to creators’ accounts. Some agreements also include financial penalties if creators end their contracts early.
Managers Discuss Account Control in Private Groups
Investigators gained access to one of the largest private Telegram groups for OnlyFans managers, called OFM Empire. Reports said the group had around 24,000 members.
Members openly discussed methods for recruiting creators, taking control of their accounts and increasing their control over earnings.
One participant called this approach the “pimp method”.
Group discussions also included advice about creating separate email addresses and passwords so creators could not log into their own accounts independently.
These discussions have raised further concerns about the level of control some managers try to gain over creators.
Experts and Officials Raise Concerns
UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner Eleanor Lyons said the experiences described by creators show recognised signs of exploitation.
She pointed to practices such as controlling creators, using coercion, applying financial pressure and making it difficult for creators to leave.
Lyons said the government needs to examine the issue more closely.
She also expressed concern that authorities may not have responded adequately to some reported cases. She has called for greater scrutiny of the industry and has raised the possibility of licensing OFMs.
Lawyers who reviewed several contracts also raised concerns.
Matt Jury of McCue Jury & Partners and Sophie Kemp of Kingsley Napley described many of the agreements as unbalanced. They warned that some contracts could become the first step towards exploitation or conditions resembling servitude.
Kemp also suggested that creators who suffered harm could potentially bring negligence claims against OnlyFans.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Commercial Sexual Exploitation, joined Lyons in writing to the Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee.
They called for a parliamentary inquiry into allegations of exploitation, possible signs of human trafficking and safeguarding failures connected to the platform.
What OnlyFans Says
OnlyFans has rejected claims that it ignores abuse or exploitation on its platform.
A company spokesperson said the platform takes user safety “incredibly seriously”. The company said it invests heavily in safety measures and maintains strict procedures for user onboarding, payments and account moderation.
OnlyFans also said it meets its responsibilities under the Online Safety Act.
The company stressed that it maintains a direct relationship with creators and fans. It said it does not endorse or maintain relationships with third-party management agencies.
OnlyFans also said it cannot review or control private contracts that creators sign with managers outside the platform.
When someone raises concerns about an account, OnlyFans says it immediately restricts the account, investigates the issue and takes steps to ensure that the creator retains control.
The company also said it did not receive specific account and agency details requested during recent reporting that could have helped it investigate the allegations.
OnlyFans encourages users to report suspected bad actors to the company and the police.
Payment providers in the UK also carry out confirmation-of-payee checks.
Ofcom Responds
Ofcom described the testimony from victims as “deeply concerning”.
However, the regulator said offences that happen entirely offline fall outside the scope of the Online Safety Act.
Ofcom also stressed that regulated online services must assess the risk that people could use their platforms to facilitate criminal offences.
Similar Cases Around the World
Concerns about exploitative OnlyFans management do not exist only in the UK.
In early June 2026, Czech police charged four people and a legal entity with human trafficking in a case involving dozens of young women.
Many of the women had only recently turned 18.
Investigators said the group gained the women’s trust and persuaded them to sign representation contracts. The group then controlled the resulting OnlyFans and other online profiles, while many victims could not access their own accounts.
Investigators also said the group used psychological pressure, threats of fines and withheld payments to force the women to produce increasingly explicit material.
Authorities said the case involved at least 3.6 million Czech crowns in income.
Legal Cases in the United States
US courts have also seen class-action lawsuits against OnlyFans and several management agencies.
The lawsuits name agencies operating under names such as Boss Baddies/Siren/Luxe, Unruly/Dysrpt and Moxy Management, among others.
The cases focus partly on the use of paid “chatters”. These workers communicate with fans while pretending to be the creators themselves.
Plaintiffs argue that these practices mislead fans into believing they are directly communicating with the creators.
Separate lawsuits and media reports have also described agencies taking large shares of creators’ earnings, controlling their accounts and using coercive terms in some contracts.
Media outlets and creators have raised complaints about exploitative agencies for at least four years.
Domestic Abuse and Other Concerns
UK domestic-abuse specialists have also reported cases in which partners pressure women into creating OnlyFans accounts and then control their content and earnings.
Recent criminal cases have also involved people posting intimate images on the platform without the consent of the people shown in them.
A Growing Industry With Limited Regulation
The management industry around OnlyFans has grown rapidly as the platform has paid creators tens of billions of dollars over time.
Professional management can benefit creators. Good agencies can handle administrative work, communicate with subscribers, promote accounts and potentially increase earnings.
However, several practices have raised serious concerns.
These include high commission rates, demands for control over accounts and payment information, unclear or one-sided contracts, pressure to create unwanted content, and reports of threats and violence.
Creators, lawyers, the anti-slavery commissioner and parliamentarians have therefore called for clearer safeguards, greater transparency and stronger accountability across the industry.
Creators who have left problematic management arrangements have advised others to take several precautions. They recommend keeping control of their account logins and payment information, having contracts independently reviewed by lawyers and thoroughly researching any manager before signing an agreement.
