12 hours ago
1 
OnlyFans: Inside the Machine is set to shine a spotlight on a deeply troubling side of the adult content platform, with a new BBC documentary uncovering claims of abuse, control and exploitation linked to a growing industry of so-called model managers.
The hard-hitting investigation hears from women who say they were manipulated, intimidated and financially exploited by men promising to boost their earnings.
Some of the allegations are so shocking they have been compared to modern slavery and human trafficking.
Amber Haque investigates the rise in OnlyFans managers in OnlyFans: Inside the Machine (Credit: BBC)
Several women speak candidly about their experiences in the documentary, warning others about the dangers they faced after signing over control of their accounts.
For some, the consequences were devastating.
One woman alleges she was strangled and left covered in bruises after changing her OnlyFans password and cutting ties with her male manager.
BBC’s OnlyFans: Inside the Machine exposes rise of ‘managers’
BBC reporter Amber Haque fronts OnlyFans: Inside the Machine, which explores the booming business of third party managers operating within the platform.
They have been dubbed a “corporate offshoot of the manosphere”.
Alongside successful creators including Lily Phillips and Gia Clarke, the documentary hears from women who say they were promised huge earnings before finding themselves trapped in damaging situations.
One of them is Leanne, a mum-of-four who says she was persuaded to sign a contract with a male manager who claimed he could help her make £10,000 a week.
With no specific laws regulating these management companies, Leanne says she soon found herself under pressure.
Despite making clear she was uncomfortable posting fully nude content online, she claims she was eventually persuaded to record an explicit video.
“I felt physically sick,” Leanne tells Amber. “I threw the video to them and said, ‘Don’t sell it for anything less than £250’.”
Just two days later, she discovered the video had been sold for $36 (£26).
“I cried and said the agreement was £250,” Leanne recalls. “They just went, ‘It’s not going to be suitable working with you. We don’t think it’s going to benefit us’.”
Fighting back tears, she adds: “Honestly, it made me feel so disgusting and so degraded.”
Amber meets with OnlyFans models Lily Phillips and Gia Clarke (Credit: BBC)
‘They threw me up the stairs’
Another woman featured in the documentary is Rebecca, a mum-of-one from South Wales.
She says she signed a contract handing over 50 per cent of her earnings to a management agency.
Rebecca claims things quickly changed.
“At first, they were lovely. They told me I was so beautiful and had potential to make a lot of money.
“Within a few weeks, they told me I looked like [bleep] and became abusive and controlling.”
Rebecca alleges she was discouraged from seeing friends and criticised whenever she tried to have a social life.
The situation escalated further when, she claims, she was pressured into escorting work.
After changing her password and blocking access to her account, Rebecca says she began receiving threats.
“There was a lot of verbal abuse, phone calls,” she tells Amber. “They said they were sending someone to my address to swing me and my daughter around by our hair.”
What happened next left her terrified.
“I had two masked men come to my house and attack me. They strangled me, they threw me up the stairs and back down. I thought ‘this is it’.”
Rebecca later shows Amber photographs of extensive bruising and says: “The strangling was the worst.”
When is OnlyFans: Inside the Machine on?
Later in the programme, Amber speaks to legal and human rights experts who discuss whether some of the alleged behaviour could potentially fall under definitions of human trafficking or modern slavery.
OnlyFans told the BBC it “takes the safety of its users seriously”, adding: “OnlyFans’ relationship is with our Creators and Fans and we are not connected with, and do not endorse any third parties including management agencies.”
The documentary raises serious questions about an industry operating largely out of sight and the risks faced by some of the women involved.
OnlyFans: Inside the Machine airs tonight (Monday June 15, 2026) at 10.55pm on BBC One.
The one hour documentary will also be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
What do you think of this story? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page
The post ‘They strangled me’: Brave OnlyFans models reveal terrifying rise of manosphere-style male managers in new documentary appeared first on Entertainment Daily.
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·