AOC defends New York medic outed by tabloid for OnlyFans account: ‘Leave her alone’

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has defended a 23-year-old paramedic outed by the New York Post for supplementing her income by posting images of herself on an online content-subscription platform.

Lauren Kwei, who has written about her experience and the realities of the city’s healthcare system during the coronavirus crisis in an op-ed for The Independent, was the subject of a story published on 12 December that shared her images and identified her by her full name and social profiles. It also named the EMS company where she is employed.

She removed several images from her OnlyFans page after she was contacted by the newspaper “in the hopes that I won’t lose my job in the middle of a pandemic and three weeks before Christmas,” she told the outlet.

The story, headlined NYC medic helped 'make ends meet' with racy OnlyFans side gig, was roundly criticised after its publication for appearing to shame her while potentially risking her livelihood without a critical examination of the state of the public health crisis, in which a health worker has relied on multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez slammed the outlet on Twitter in a post aimed at the Post’s account: “Leave her alone. The actual scandalous headline here is ‘Medics in the United States need two jobs to survive’.”

“Sex work is work,” the congresswoman said in a separate post. “The federal gov has done almost nothing to help people in months. We must pass stimulus checks, [expanded unemployment insurance, small business relief], hospital funding, etc. … Keep the focus of shame there, not on marginalizing people surviving a pandemic without help.”

The congresswoman also called Ms Kwei “and thanked me for my service," she said.

Ms Kwei said on Wednesday that she remains employed with the EMS company.

In a 14 December update on a GoFundMe campaign, she said that “over the past 3 days, my life and the intimate details of it have been made public for millions of strangers to read and judge.”

“I did not ask my parents for help because I’m adult and wanted to make my own money," she said. “I never once spoke of my pictures at work or used my job as a paramedic to solicit subscribers. I know I did nothing wrong and I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

The platform has seen a spike in popularity within the last year, along with tabloid stories outing people working outside of sex work-related fields who have relied on the website during the pandemic.

Ms Kwei outlined her experience working as a health worker in New York City, including her graduation from paramedic school at the onset of the outbreak.

“I am a damn good paramedic," she said. “I LOVE my job and I love taking care of people. I don’t want to quit my day job and get my bag on OnlyFans – I want to serve the city of New York. That’s all I have ever wanted to do. I have always believed in using my voice to speak for those who many not be heard I was raised to ALWAYS show kindness and compassion.”

The Post story provoked a wave of online outrage and a groundswell of support across social media for Ms Kwei as well as first responders and sex workers.

An editorial from The New York Daily News responded: “With due respect for our competitor, we strongly disagree that a New York City emergency medical service lifesaver setting up a page on the website known as OnlyFans, where she supplements her income by charging for access to racy photos and videos, qualifies as a scandal. Especially in a world where the FDNY still sells an official cheesecake calendar.”

The Independent has requested comment from The Post.