How Underage Creators Became A Threat To Lucy Guo's OnlyFans Rival Company, Passes

Forbes

The Scale AI cofounder’s second startup Passes banned creators under 18 ahead of being sued for allegedly hosting child sexual abuse material, which Guo has denied.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2025/03/03/how-underage-creators-became-a-threat-to-lucy-guos-onlyfans-rival/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, how underage creators became a threat to Lucy Guo's only fan's rival.

00:08Lucy Guo's first startup hit, AI Unicorn Scale, made her one of America's richest women, with

00:14a stake worth more than $500 million.

00:18Her second, Passes, promised to rip up the script on the creator economy set by rivals

00:23Patreon and FanFix, pledging to help creators as young as 15 make more money on what her

00:29startup said was the, quote, safest and most secure creator and fan platform on the planet.

00:35But unlike her competitors, Guo allowed underage teenagers to post revealing content, as long

00:41as they had parental consent.

00:43Passes took off, raising $65 million from investors like Mary Meeker's Bond Capital,

00:50Menlo Ventures, and talent agent Michael Ovitz.

00:53Guo signed deals with celebrities like Shaq, DJ Kygo, gymnast Olivia Dunn, and the college

01:00sports program at the University of Michigan, as well as teenage social media stars like

01:05Ava Madry, singer Cicely Rose, and actress Ava Justin.

01:10But last month, she made an abrupt change.

01:13Passes banned all underage users and purged the site of their content just days before

01:18being hit with a lawsuit accusing the company of hosting child sexual abuse material.

01:24The lawsuit, filed by Florida teenager Alice Rosenblum in civil court at the United States

01:29District Court for the Southern District of Florida, claims Passes hosted and distributed

01:34illegal, sexually explicit images of her in the month before her 18th birthday.

01:39Federal and state laws have strict rules that criminalize the possession or distribution

01:43of any explicit imagery of a minor, even if they are now adults.

01:48Rosenblum's lawyers declined to comment on whether the teen had reported the images

01:52to law enforcement agencies.

01:55When Rosenblum was 17 years old, she was allegedly recruited by Alex Celestin, a talent agent

02:00linked with Guo, who also has an equity stake in Passes, and Lani Genoza, Passes' former

02:06director of talent, who at the time was working for Celestin's agency.

02:11According to the suit, Celestin and Genoza encouraged Rosenblum to take nude images and

02:15videos and upload them to Passes.

02:18Both are named as defendants in the suit, along with Passes and Guo.

02:23The now-18-year-old shouldn't have been able to join the site as a creator without her

02:27parents' permission, but the lawsuit alleges that Passes allowed this check to be skipped,

02:32and other Passes staff removed blocks on her account that would have prevented users from

02:36direct messaging her because she was a minor.

02:39Attorney Christopher Clark, who is representing Rosenblum, told Forbes,

02:44The defendants exploited Ms. Rosenblum and other creators who were minors on Passes,

02:49and they are now sadly victims of child pornography.

02:52We look forward to vindicating their rights in court and obtaining a measure of justice

02:55for them.

02:58Guo, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum, posted on Instagram a few weeks ago,

03:03The definition of evil is a sad attempt to ruin someone's reputation and business with

03:07false allegations for money, $15 million to be exact.

03:12Guo did not respond to a request for comment.

03:16Passes spokesperson Andrew Brimmer of crisis PR firm Joelle Frank said,

03:21This lawsuit is untethered from reality.

03:23The claims of misconduct relate to the plaintiff's third-party talent manager, Alex Celestin.

03:29Passes is a safe platform for brand-friendly content creators, and we have strict policies

03:33to enforce our content guidelines.

03:35The alleged conduct described in the complaint is a direct violation of our terms of service,

03:42and everything Passes stands for.

03:45With creator platforms like Patreon and FanFix barring underage teens, and social networks

03:50like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram also preventing minors from earning a share of advertising

03:56revenue without parental consent, teens who have built followings online have few ways

04:01to monetize their fame.

04:03Passes offered an additional option.

04:06But Guo's decision to work with underage creators like Rosenblum has made her the newest

04:10player in a dark corner of the internet where children can build huge online followings

04:15but often draw uncomfortable and dangerous attention from adult men.

04:20It's a rampant problem on social media.

04:22Forbes reported in 2022 that TikTok Live had become a quote,

04:26strip club filled with 15-year-olds, being sent cash gifts, largely by men.

04:33For full coverage, check out Ian Martin's piece on Forbes.com.

04:39This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:41Thanks for tuning in.

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