Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Tennis champion Serena Williams launches her own line of beauty products, LSU basketball star Angel Reese declares for the WNBA draft, and OnlyFans’ CEO learned from experiencing some of the same stigma as her platform’s creators. Have a thoughtful Thursday.
– Smashing stigma. Keily Blair went from London-based partner of an elite law firm specializing in cyber, privacy, and security to an executive at her former client: OnlyFans. After becoming CEO of the tech platform known for adult content in mid-2023, she noticed a few differences in reactions when she was introduced by her job title.
The most jarring was when a bank rejected her as a customer because of her association with OnlyFans—as often happens for adult content creators who post on OnlyFans. Risk-averse financial institutions, fearful of facilitating financial transactions for illegal sex work or crimes like sex trafficking, often turned down even those who tangentially touch the sex and adult content industry, leaving them without access to basic financial tools like bank accounts and credit cards. Blair’s banking incident was first reported in an interview with the Financial Times, and I caught up with Blair about it when we participated in a panel together at SXSW last month.
“You get a huge amount of empathy from your life—that this is a real thing,” Blair told me (she declines to name which bank it was). OnlyFans, the platform, has had its own banking challenges and came close to banning adult content in 2021. “Financial inclusion should be top of the agenda for everybody. It really brings it home.”
Blair’s predecessor as CEO, Amrapali Gan (whom I profiled in 2023), went on a media blitz with the goal of destigmatizing OnlyFans—making clear the platform welcomed adult creators and could be used for suitable-for-work content, from sports fan engagement to cooking shows. Blair has continued that mission, sponsoring athletes in racing and wrestling and even licensing a show from OnlyFans’ suitable-for-work content platform OFTV to Netflix. House of Sims follows a U.K.-based family of reality stars.
But adult content still drives much of OnlyFans $1 billion in annual revenue; the company took a 20% cut of the $5.5 billion users spent on the platform in 2022. Some of its most successful creators rake in millions, yet still encounter stigma.
“I knew I was leaving what was a very professional background,” Blair says of her decision to trade Big Law for OnlyFans. “I was ready for a negative reaction. But part of my job is to change that—and that’s why I’m excited. Being the CEO of OnlyFans—it gives you the opportunity to have those conversations.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- A swing at beauty. Tennis star Serena Williams launched Wyn Beauty, her own beauty brand designed for a diverse array of "active lifestyles." Williams, who already runs an athlete recovery brand and founded her own venture capital firm, says she’s been working on Wyn Beauty for six years with beauty retailer Ulta Beauty, which debuted the line. Women's Wear Daily
- Graduating to the league. LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese announced she is leaving college for this year’s WNBA draft in a Vogue profile. Reese said former tennis star Serena Williams inspired her to make the announcement, which was accompanied by a photoshoot. Vogue
- Flashbacks to 2020. Liberal commentators are putting pressure on Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor to retire while President Joe Biden is still in office to ensure that the 69-year-old justice is replaced by another liberal. Senate Democrats aren't joining in these calls but appear worried that the circumstances that led conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg could repeat themselves. NBC News
- Reaping benefits. Employees for the federal government will soon be able to choose insurance plans that cover a variety of fertility services. The new plans are more generous than those offered by other employers and will provide up to $25,000 in annual coverage for in vitro fertilization procedures and a limited number of artificial insemination cycles. The 19th
- Merge ahead. Shari Redstone-controlled Paramount and Skydance Media are reportedly nearing a merger agreement that would relieve one of entertainment’s most powerful women of her stake in the struggling media company. SkyDance's terms for finalizing the deal would require a committee of Paramount directors to confirm that the merger is beneficial to all Paramount shareholders, not just the parent company that Redstone presides over. Wall Street Journal
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Greycroft appointed Kelley Hodge to head of marketing and Tammy Schlosberg to head of investor relations. Glassbox announced Michelle Suzuki as chief marketing officer. Cowbell named Sahar Sabouni as chief people officer.
ON MY RADAR
The coming birth control revolution The Atlantic
How Hollywood’s male gaze vilified Minnie Driver Vanity Fair
If teenage girls ran America The Atlantic
PARTING WORDS
“I don’t want to be out in the world being like, ‘If I were a man’; nobody really wants to have to do that all the time. If women don’t do it, we never get talked about, so we’ve had to for a really long time.”
— Four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird on Sue Bird: In the Clutch, a new documentary about her career
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