Two young women have alleged that they were sex trafficked through the popular pornography website OnlyFans, and OnlyFans shared profits with their trafficker. Now, these women’s lawsuit against OnlyFans has taken an important step forward: their sex trafficking claims have been allowed to proceed, overcoming OnlyFans’ motion to dismiss!
Here’s the full story.
The Sex Trafficking of L.C. and P.H.
When plaintiffs L.C. and P.H. met the model and T.V. personality Brittanya Razavi, they were both financially desperate, vulnerable young women. L.C. was homeless. P.H. was an immigrant who had recently lost her job. She also had no support system, due to having been kicked out of her adopted home as a child.
Brittanya knew all of this. In fact, according to the plaintiffs’ lawsuit, she intentionally sought out vulnerable, desperate women because they were easy targets for grooming and sex trafficking.
This is what L.C. and P.H. allege happened next:
Brittanya promised the two young women that their financial difficulties would be quickly resolved if they created content on OnlyFans (a pornography website) under her management. She claimed that she would take 50% of the earnings as a management fee—but in fact, she intended to take almost all of the money.
Brittanya promptly pressured each plaintiff into signing a one-page document, which she described as a “model release.” She refused to give either woman a copy of the document they signed.
And then, Brittanya began coercing the women into performing extreme and even illegal sex acts on camera. She regularly got the women drunk to override their consent. She would say things such as “I’ll wait til you’re drunk before I tell you what you’re doing.” When the women refused to perform a certain act, she would effectively say, “I’ll just talk to you again when you’re drunk.”
In one case, L.C. realized that Brittanya had arranged for her to be raped while she was drunk, by a man she’d repeatedly rejected. She’d drunk so much that she couldn’t remember the evening, and only realized the rape happened when she saw the video footage circulating online.
To add insult to injury, Brittanya locked the plaintiffs out of their own OnlyFans accounts and inserted her bank details so that all the proceeds would go directly to her. L.C. and P.H. could not see what content was being posted, how much money was being earned, or how much Brittanya was fraudulently taking from them—which was almost everything.
L.C. and P.H.’s experiences directly coincide with the federal and international definitions of sex trafficking, which describe using “force, fraud, or coercion” to induce someone into commercial sex acts.
OnlyFans Turned a Blind Eye and Profited from the Sex Trafficking
Throughout everything that happened to L.C. and P.H., OnlyFans knew or should have known what was going on. The plaintiffs’ allegations regarding the platform’s complicity are as follows:
OnlyFans’ policies explicitly prohibit third-party controlled accounts. Yet Brittanya’s bank account information had been added to multiple accounts. This was not only a clear indication that she was violating the platforms’ policies, it was a major red flag for sex trafficking, especially since she was known to OnlyFans as a someone with a highly lucrative account of her own.
Further, Brittanya’s abuse had already been reported to OnlyFans by another survivor. Yet the platform never took action against Brittanya. They had no incentive to, because she was earning them massive amounts of money through the various accounts she operated. Brittanya’s personal OnlyFans page alone was earning approximately $1 million a month—not to mention all the money she was making through the women she allegedly trafficked. OnlyFans received 20% of all the proceeds from the accounts Brittanya controlled.
While OnlyFans neglected to take action when the survivor reported Brittanya, they responded very differently when Brittanya retaliated against said survivor and reported her. Brittanya filed frivolous copyright violation reports in retaliation against the survivor, and OnlyFans responded by permanently banning the survivor from the platform. The survivor reached out, reminding OnlyFans that she had been exploited by Brittanya, and explaining that this was nothing but an act of retaliation. Yet OnlyFans maintained the permanent ban.
To this day, OnlyFans has taken no action against Brittanya. To the best of our knowledge, Brittanya continues to exploit women on the platform, and OnlyFans continues to reap 20% of the profits from her exploitative activity.
L.C. and P.H. therefore argue that OnlyFans violated federal law by “benefitting and conspiring to benefit from sex trafficking.”
Next Steps and How You Can Help
L.C. and P.H.’s sex trafficking claims have been allowed to proceed against OnlyFans, overcoming the platform’s motion to dismiss. The NCOSE Law Center and Jason Guinasso will continue to litigate this important case on behalf of the brave survivors. In addition to suing OnlyFans, the survivors are also suing Brittanya Razavi and her husband, who allegedly conspired with her in the sex trafficking scheme.
On behalf of our survivor clients, we implore your help. The NCOSE Law Center is a pro-bono law firm; donations are a big part of what makes it possible to represent survivors free of charge.
Thank you so much for your generosity and your passion for justice.
