After the New York Post inexplicably revealed the identity of a paramedic who’s been using OnlyFans to make ends meet, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dragged the publication for essentially shaming a front line worker for paying her bills during a pandemic.
“Leave her alone,” AOC tweeted. “The actual scandalous headline here is ‘Medics in the United States need two jobs to survive.'”
Leave her alone. The actual scandalous headline here is “Medics in the United States need two jobs to survive”
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 14, 2020
The controversial article featured 23-year-old New York City EMT Lauren Caitlyn Kwei who defended posing for provocative posts on OnlyFans, which should have no bearing on her day job. “The bottom line: I don’t get paid a lot. I’m just trying to make ends meet,” Kwei said. Via the NY Post:
“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.” Kwei added, “There are plenty of people who are medical professionals who have every right to do what they want with their own bodies. I’m not doing it at work. Health care workers aren’t making a lot of money. And I’m not the only one trying to make ends meet.”
At issue is the Post‘s decision to out Kwei who reportedly only agreed to talk to the paper anonymously, according to a GoFundMe page that has already raised over $33,000 in case Kwei is fired because of the article. There’s also the larger debate of why the Post felt the need to highlight something an EMT does in her private life that poses no risk to public health. Kwei’s OnlyFans videos are made in her apartment and involve zero contact with others, which is why other prominent voices on Twitter joined AOC in calling out the Post for its unnecessary shaming.
Let me get this straight: this woman is risking her life during COVID to save the lives of others during the day and otherwise supplements her income by engaging in an activity in which literally no one is being hurt and no laws are being broken, and you're publicly shaming her?
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) December 14, 2020
You are truly terrible people.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 14, 2020
she specifically asked that you guys not identify her bc she could lose her job and you completely disrespected that. you should seriously rethink your ethical standards as a news source, alongside the blatant misogyny, and donate to her go fund me https://t.co/25wzyGsbTU
— soup (@jasminericegirl) December 13, 2020
mind your own goddamn business, good lord
— ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) December 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/MavenOfMayhem/status/1338325954058465282
(Via AOC on Twitter)