If you had your beady eye on social media this weekend, you most likely would have encountered the emoji-censored buttocks of an iconic legend, paired with a caption that could literally help save the world: “I’m sending nudes to every person who donates at least $10 to any one of these fundraisers for the wildfires in Australia,” it read. “Every $10 you donate = one nude picture from me to your DM.” And with that, the ultimate altruistic hustle was born.
The buttocks belonged to Kaylen Ward, a 20-year-old model from Los Angeles who makes a living through her (probably highly lucrative — you look good sis!!) OnlyFans account. When Kaylen came across the horrifying photos of the Australian forest ablaze, she decided to use her power for good, and did exactly what she mentions above.
With the tweet in question racking up 72,500 retweets and over 170,000 likes, it’s safe to say that willing participants have flocked to Kaylen’s page in search of both ecological salvation and nudes. She estimates that she’s raised over $500,000 for charities helping to protect the burning wildlife and land in Australia so far.
But her fight for climate justice has taken a sour turn, and it’s thanks to everybody’s least favourite uptight kings of censorship: Instagram. Yup, the photo sharing platform has taken issue with her “sexually suggestive content” and disabled her account. Bores!
There’s long been a discussion surrounding the way in which Instagram handles content on their platform that involves nudity. The rules are draconian: someone’s decided that the mere showing of skin in certain places is enough for someone’s account to be disabled. But here we have the prime example of its power: a sex worker using her body to save the planet at her own accord. Why Instagram felt it necessary to implement their blanket rule on that front we’ll never know. Several outlets, including BuzzFeed News, have reached out for comment from Instagram, but the Facebook-owned company is yet to make a response. In the meantime, she’s created a new account to keep her followers and fans up to date, but the battle to get her old photos back is still ongoing. Let’s hope it all gets worked out ASAP so she can make more $$!
Kaylen’s sacrificed more than her IG for her campaign to help Australia, as evidenced by the tweet below. We do not deserve her: the living legend who shall sacrifice all to save the koalas. We have no choice but to stan.