In this economy, with the pandemic leading to a whole lot of people losing their jobs, many Americans have turned to making some extra cash on OnlyFans. Yes, there are some personal trainers and chefs doing their thing on the site, but most of its 450,000+ content creators are selling sexy pictures or videos of themselves. And not all of them want people they know in real life to know about that.
This weekend, for reasons it is difficult to even begin to comprehend, Dean Balsamini and Susan Edelman of the New York Post decided to write an article outing a paramedic's OnlyFans side hustle. The woman, whom we will refer only to by her first name, "Lauren," because we are not monsters, had agreed to speak to the Post on the condition of anonymity. Instead, not only did they reveal her name, they contacted her place of work "multiple" times and also asked a male "veteran FDNY paramedic" for his take on the situation.
The article, titled "NYC medic helped 'make ends meet' with racy OnlyFans side gig," features a side-by-side comparison of a picture of Lauren in real life, in her paramedic uniform, next to one of her OnlyFans pictures. It included several quotes from Lauren about why she chose to do both kinds of work, information about how she had initially gone to New York to pursue a career in musical theater, how little paramedics get paid and her family's financial situation.
"At the end of the day, it doesn't affect how I treat people. What I do in my free time is my business. It has no effect on how I care for my patients. I know when I'm working, I'm a paramedic. I think I'm pretty good at my job," she told the reporters.
Now, if one were so generous, they might think the Post's reporters were trying to tell a compelling and human story about how one woman is surviving the pandemic. A woman whose job it is to save lives. Except, if you read the article in question, it's clear the primarily concern here is shaming this woman and ruining her life for no particular reason.
Were this meant to be a nice story, it is unlikely it would have included this description of her OnlyFans account:
A subscriber to [Lauren's] site found 32 posts on Nov. 25, including a photo showing her topless while posing with a sex toy, and videos in which she gyrates in a red bra and panties while The Weeknd's hit tune "Shameless" blares.
Like, what would be the reason to "investigate" what her pictures and videos were, unless the goal were to somehow turn this into a scandal? In fact, the end of the article makes very clear this was the intention of the article. Why the hell else would they have contacted her job to ask for comment otherwise, or include the opinion of another random paramedic to chastise her?
After [Lauren] first spoke to The Post, she deleted at least seven OnlyFans posts, including an offer to watch a "16 sec shower" video for $10. After Nov. 27, she locked her Twitter and Instagram accounts, and omitted the reference to OnlyFans in her Twitter profile. As of Friday, all her OnlyFans posts were deleted.
"I know SeniorCare would deem this 'inappropriate' so I took it down in the hopes that I won't lose my job in the middle of a pandemic and three weeks before Christrmas," [Lauren] texted. She said SeniorCare had asked to meet with her.
A veteran FDNY paramedic agreed that EMT pay is paltry, but blasted 'Lauren's] choice of a side career.
"Other EMTs and paramedics make more money by pulling extra shifts, instead of pulling off their clothes," he said.
On SeniorCare's website, the descriptions of all jobs forbid "inappropriate conduct, on and off duty." The requirements include: "Adheres to standards of personal ethics, on and off duty, which reflect credit upon the profession."
SeniorCare representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Were people actually supposed to be outraged by this? Like "Ugh! How dare she! Paramedics making minimum wage must be held to certain Puritanical standards!" or something? Why on earth would the Post be so invested in seeing this woman lose her job over something like this? What woman hurt Dean Balsamini?
I would just like to point out that Balsamini, while highly judgy about paramedic boobs, is perfectly capable of writing an article full of pathos. For people wearing "Make America Great Again" hats.
Quite frankly, this whole thing reads exactly like one of the "revenge on women for being attractive and not wanting to date me" fantasies one might see in the incel forums. Certain men have no small amount of anger toward beautiful women.
Since the article was published, a friend of Lauren's has started a GoFundMe on her behalf. It explains the situation Lauren is now looking at because Dean Balsamini decided to ruin her life:
Lauren is a paramedic, working on the front lines in one of the hardest hit areas of the country making little money. In order to support herself during the pandemic as well as her family, Lauren turned to sex work. Recently Lauren was contacted by a national newspaper, Lauren asked to please remain anonymous and not be named. The newspaper and journalist (male) decided against honoring her request instead quoting her and misquoting her making her appear flippant and uncaring. In reality Lauren is now at risk of loosing[sic] her job, loosing her ability to help support her family, her father is extremely ill and Lauren has no where to turn.
In an update, Lauren wrote:
I want to start off by thanking you all so much for standing up for me and fighting. I have read all your comments and messages and I'm feeling very overwhelmed with love and gratitude. Let me also say that I truly believe I do not HAVE to explain myself, but I want to. I know in my heart that I did nothing wrong, but it really helps to be reminded that I do not deserve to be treated like this or spoken about this way. All my life, I have been sexualized and treated as a sex object, no matter what I do or say. I sold pictures of myself on the internet for extra money because it's easy. I didn't pick up extra shifts because I cannot work 40+ hour weeks and maintain my mental health. I did not ask my parents for help because I'm adult and wanted to make my own money. I never once spoke of my pictures at work or used my job as a paramedic to solicit subscribers.
I know I did nothing wrong and I have nothing to be ashamed of. Most of the quotes in that article are me defending myself to this reporter. He did not include that I begged him to remain anonymous (which was never agreed to) and that I told him my safety and job were going to be at risk if he posted this article. He truly did not care. He went on to call my employer and my mother. As some of you may know, I've been home with my family in WV following my father going into cardiac arrest last week. I have not been able to speak with my employer because of this and I still do not know what they are going to do. As of right now, I do still have a job but I will probably find out tomorrow if I don't.
The fact that she would even think for a second that she did anything wrong is absolutely heartbreaking, ss is the fact that she could lose her job over this. If anyone should be losing their job here, it's Dean Balsamini and Susan Edelman for doing this to her. Also that one "veteran FDNY paramedic," who should learn to mind his own damn business.
Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons.
Wonkette is independent and fully funded by readers like you. Click below to tip us!
