Does Pete Davidson Hate OnlyFans Creators?

Shannon Elizabeth made more than $1.2 million in her first week on OnlyFans. Jessie Cave, the "Harry Potter" actress, says she has earned more in one year than in her entire acting career. Donna Mills joined at 85 and reportedly pulled in "many six figures" within weeks, on a free page. Drea de Matteo made $75,000 in 75 minutes when she needed to save her home.

None of them thought it was a joke. They saw it as another source of income. Yet Pete Davidson turned the entire concept into a bit in a recent Interview.

In a new Variety video, the comedian went on a long rant about influencers. His complaint was simple: he doesn't get what they do. He imagined young women talking to their phones and doing quick dances, then asked, "What do you do? Nothing." He claimed some of them make "40 million a year" and called it proof that "the world's broken." Watching it all, he said, made him feel old.

Then came the plot twist. Davidson admitted he thinks about starting an OnlyFans every week. His idea was basically to post as little as possible and retire, and he wondered out loud whether he should do that instead of "just keep trying." It was a joke, or at least an attempt at one. But it's a funny thing to say right after calling an entire industry lame.

The thing is, plenty of people take that money seriously. Sophie Rain, who reportedly earns around $45 million a year, had an answer ready. "If it's really that easy, he should go do it," she said. She pointed out that Davidson joked about starting his own page, so he clearly knows there's money in it. In her words, people don't make millions by accident, and a 60-second video hides a lot of work, from filming and editing to fan messages and analytics.

And it’s a bit ironic of Davidson to criticize those making a living online, as he has said before that he quit social media because the negative comments were hurting him. That makes him an odd judge of what it takes to build an audience online, since he walked away from that world.

You also have to wonder why it is that when a famous man says he might start an OnlyFans, it's a punchline with almost no risk attached. When women do it for real, they usually get lectures, backlash, and plenty of opinions from people who've never tried it. Davidson can float the idea and move on. Creators can't.