Rapper Iggy Azalea recently opened up about her decision to leave OnlyFans, even though she was once one of the platform’s highest earners.
Azalea joined OnlyFans in 2023, a platform where many celebrities share exclusive content with their followers, including behind-the-scenes photos and even some more risqué content.
Her popularity soared almost immediately, and reports suggested she was earning an impressive $9.2 million (£7m) each month.
But fans were left shocked when she decided to step away from the platform, and now, she’s finally revealing why during a conversation with Laura Shin on the Unchained podcast.
Shin asked Azalea about her decision to close her OnlyFans account despite the high earnings, and also about her recent work with the $MOTHER cryptocurrency.
They also discussed how Azalea has been directing her followers over to Telegram, the popular social messaging service, and whether her income from crypto has compensated for leaving OnlyFans.
Azalea admitted that while she’s not making as much money, she doesn’t see the two platforms as being entirely different.
She said: “I mean, I’m sure a lot of people wouldn’t like to hear it in a way because people think about OnlyFans and they think that it’s so sexually deviant and a lot of it is, obviously.”
“But a lot of it isn’t, and so for me to say what I’m going to say right now and say it’s really not that different, I’m sure a lot of people would like to think they’re a lot different to the people that go on OnlyFans.”
Reflecting on her time on OnlyFans, Azalea described it as a unique “learning experience” that helped her understand more about building communities, something she’s already familiar with from her music career.
As a musician who’s been in the industry for quite some time, she explained how she created a space for people who were willing to pay just to connect with her regularly. She found that these fans were there more for the personal connection than anything else.
Initially, she had launched her OnlyFans with the goal of building a multi-channel platform where she could share the kinds of edgy photos that weren’t allowed on Instagram. Things grew quickly from there.
She said: “I ended up getting really sick and not being able to complete that, but what I did learn was that a lot more of my people that I would talk to every day just seemed like they wanted regular human interaction or friendship more than they wanted a transactional relationship.”
Azalea went on to share that she often received messages on Instagram from people explaining that they couldn’t afford her subscription that month.
She said fans would write messages like: “I love talking to you so much and you make me laugh so much and I feel so bad that you might think that I don’t want to talk to you. So, I wanted to reach out to you here to just say that’s what happened with me but I’m here.”
Those messages made Azalea realize that for many, it was less about money and more about the friendships and connections that had developed through the platform.
That insight led her to join Telegram.
On Telegram, she can make money by using its business features, which let her sell ads, promote products or services, or even offer a subscription for exclusive content.
Back on June 2, she left a message for her OnlyFans followers: “Hey everyone! I enjoyed our conversations so much – but I’ve decided I don’t have enough time to chat via this page anymore.”
“You can find me on telegram. If you miss me too much! Bye for now.”
In addition, earlier this year in February, she addressed “broke” fans who were unhappy with her OnlyFans subscription fee.
When her OnlyFans had a $25 entry fee in 2023, a fan asked her to “please show more” because they didn’t think her content was explicit enough.
The “Fancy” rapper replied with a straightforward message on social media: “Anyone saying that is broke and hasn’t unlocked the paid content because I pose nude.”
“It’s $25 entry, not $25 for full access. They thought wrong.”
