Archbishop apologizes after OnlyFans star's baptism filmed at cathedral for reality show
The Anglican Church is calling for an Australian streaming service to remove content filmed at one of its cathedrals for a reality TV show about famous OnlyFans sex workers.
Scenes were recently filmed at St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane as part of a series titled “Turned On: Dirty, Sexy Money,” which is available on the Australian service Stan.
The series focuses on women working in the sex industry who've become rich through their popular OnlyFans accounts.
The Most Rev. Jeremy Greaves, archbishop of Brisbane and metropolitan of the Province of Queensland, wrote a letter last week to clergy about the cathedral being featured in the series, writing on behalf of Dean Peter Catt, who is currently on leave, and the Cathedral Chapter.
“I would like to apologize for the distress and anger generated by the Dean’s decision to allow St John’s Cathedral to be used as a backdrop for a reality television program currently streaming on STAN,” wrote Greaves.
“Like many of you, l am shocked by the content, nature, and intent of the program, which does not align with the faith and values of this Diocese.”
The archbishop explained that the Diocese “has contacted the program’s producers, requesting all vision, images and content featuring people other than The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Catt (Dean of Brisbane) be immediately removed, including the completely unacceptable vision of children in the Cathedral.”
According to Greaves, there is evidence that the TV show producers had misled cathedral staff into thinking that the TV program was going to be “a documentary program that would explore faith, intention, and life’s complexities, through the experience of an individual who had previously been excluded from faith communities because of past involvement in sex work.”
The show's production company has disputed that characterization, telling the New Zealand Herald that the cathedral's dean had granted approval to film.
Greaves denounced the TV series as “nothing more than click-bait, reality TV content that shamelessly attempts to validate the porn-industry.”
“I unreservedly condemn any attempt to validate an industry that exploits women and girls and contributes to degrading and unhealthy messaging around sex and sexuality,” he continued.
“This is a situation which should never have happened, and have asked for an immediate review of policies and procedures to ensure thorough due diligence is carried out before any third-party is granted access to a Church site.”
Earlier this month, author and social commentator Melinda Tankard Reist denounced the “Turned On” episode, saying that “the church became a prop in a mainstream series for clicks, sexual solicitation and more paid subscribers.”
“Was the Anglican Archbishop consulted beforehand? What arrangements, if any, did NINE/STAN make with the Cathedral for use of the venue and filming of the ceremony?” Reist asked in the Facebook post. “And will any sacred space remain untouched by an industry treating women as merely commodities for its supply chain and making billions off their backs?”
According to Reist, the episode featured Lily Phillips, a 24-year-old British OnlyFans sex worker who garnered headlines for having sex with 101 men in a day, and her purported efforts to reconnect with her childhood faith.
The episode showed the church dean performing a baptism ceremony for Phillips at the cathedral altar, asking her, "Do you turn to Christ?" according to Anglican Ink.
The outlet reported that two other content creators featured in the episode, known as "The Twins," expressed skepticism about the sincerity of Phillips' baptism, with one saying, "She has a right to practice her religion. But we don't believe her," and that she didn't want to be "a pawn in someone's publicity stunt." At least one child was also seen in the baptism footage.
The same episode also depicted Phillips recruiting men in the Gold Coast area to take part in future sexually explicit content, according to Reist's op-ed in the Herald Sun and republished by Collective Shout.
Reist also raised concerns about the child's presence in the baptism scene, questioning whether written permission had been obtained for her to be filmed serving at the altar alongside adult-content creators.
In January, Phillips said in an interview with US Weekly that she had been rebaptized because she “felt the need to start speaking to God again,” but did not plan to leave the sex industry.
“I’m definitely not claiming to be a traditional Christian at all. Obviously, I’m not against gay marriage. I am also pro-choice. So I definitely don’t have, necessarily, traditional values,” said Phillips at the time. “But that doesn’t mean to say that I can’t be Christian. I would just hope that the Christian community welcomes me, because I guess everyone’s relationship with God is bespoke to them.”
