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An Aussie school teacher fired after her OnlyFans side hustle was exposed claims she doffed her duds because she was trapped in a “poverty cycle.”
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But Sarah Juree, 41, said the OnlyFans dough isn’t all that.
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The 20-year classroom vet and single mother of two told Yahoo! she struggled to support her family on her teacher’s salary — but it wasn’t enough.
“My salary as a teacher was US$55,000 ($85,000 AUD) and after tax I was paid $1,500 every two weeks which only just covered my rent and health insurance. Every month I was going deeper and deeper into poverty,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.
Juree claimed that it was one of her school supervisors who suggested she begin “selling her underwear” on OnlyFans to make ends meet.
“If I was being paid appropriately for my job that used my intelligence, degree, heart and soul I wouldn’t have had to [join OnlyFans] – and it doesn’t make sense that I can be paid five or six times more for taking my clothes off – but when you’re a single mom, you just have to do what you do to get by,” she added.
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After joining OnlyFans, Juree had a steadier income that took some of the financial pressure off.
But soon, she was rushing for her raincoat when an “extreme right-wing blogger” outed her and distributed nude photos of her around the community.
After seeing the photos, her local school board torpedoed her contract. The shock firing took Juree by surprise.
“Men created the entire market for OnlyFans. They subscribe, send you pictures and messages, but it’s only women who are shamed and lose their jobs,” she said.
“I got just enough media attention to ruin my life but not enough to help me actually benefit from the situation. You read all of these stories about women making fortunes [on OnlyFans], but they’re already famous or have a large following on social media.
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“It hasn’t been a million-dollar payout for me. The average model on OnlyFans makes $150 a month and compared to them, I’ve done OK but the income is so up and down.”
But don’t call her a porn star.
“I literally got fired over a nude picture, then I got thrust into this entire industry that I knew nothing about. I had to figure out what my boundaries are. I don’t want to go into porn,” Juree said, adding she doesn’t blame the website for “ruining her life.”
She said: “I think being a single mum ruined my life. If I couldn’t support my family with my college degree, then I’ve failed my family. I wanted OnlyFans to be my saviour but it didn’t pan out like that. It’s been hard on my mental health.”
B.C. educational assistant Kristin MacDonald — known on OnlyFans as “Ava James” — was fired in June for “sexualizing the school environment” after her side gig was discovered.
MacDonald, 35, made the same argument as Juree and said she was only making $500 a week as an EA. The school board said her conduct was “egregious.”
@HunterTOSun
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