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Lizzy Capri Debuts on OnlyFans

Lifestyle creator Lizzy Capri has been embracing change lately—she announced a content pivot on her YouTube channel a month ago, she launched a 50 Dates in 50 States video series last week, and now? She’s debuting new content on OnlyFans.

“I'm really nervous but really excited for it ‘cause it's such a hard pivot, but I also feel like in order for me to make a statement, it has to be a hard pivot,” Capri told us.

Why OnlyFans? Capri wants to make uncensored content like NELK and Danny Duncan do, with a key difference: She wants to make money off of her videos (unlike NELK or Duncan, whose businesses are largely supported by their sizable CPG empires).

“Everyone in the space I want to emulate—none of their videos are monetized because it’s so edgy,” she told us.

The audience play: Capri told us she believes that the audience she wants to reach is already on OnlyFans. “It’s [men] who want to watch pranks and social experiments but also things that are edgy and uncensored,” Capri said.

Looking ahead: Capri’s uncensored videos will live behind a paywall on OnlyFans. She’ll also share some videos on the safe-for-work OnlyFansTV and her YouTube channel. One of Capri’s early OnlyFans videos will showcase her and her friends playing strip golf.

Zoom out: Capri, 28, has been uploading to YouTube for nearly a decade. Now, she’s taking those lessons in telling engaging stories and retaining audiences to a platform where those skills might be a little more rare than they are on YouTube.

“It takes time to learn a totally new content type, but I need a pivot,” Capri told us. “And I feel like it’s time for there also to be a female creator who does rowdy sh*t.”

Montana Bans TikTok

On Wednesday, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed legislation to block app stores from distributing TikTok to any users in the state—the strongest move any U.S. government entity has taken against the platform yet.

“To protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana,” Gianforte tweeted.

Context: Though the ban is unprecedented, it’s currently unclear how effectively Montana will be able to enforce restrictions around downloading and using TikTok—especially when state residents can turn on virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their locations.

What happens next? It’s unclear whether other states will follow suit, but as TechCrunch noted, the Montana law will likely face some strong court challenges in the near future.

Pat McAfee Inks Major Deal with ESPN

In a surprise move, former NFL player and sports creator Pat McAfee announced that he’ll soon be hosting his three-hour daily video podcast across ESPN, ESPN+, and ESPN’s YouTube channels.

Context: McAfee has parlayed his relationships with fellow athletes into a small media empire—landing hard-to-book guests for his Pat McAfee Show and sometimes breaking news.

• Along with the show, which streams to 2.2 million YouTube subscribers, McAfee already works with ESPN part-time as an analyst for College GameDay.

Zoom out: McAfee said that ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro’s vision for the company—and creators’ roles within it—convinced him to walk away from his four-year, $120 million FanDuel partnership. McAfee was in the second year of that agreement.

FYI: ESPN will pay McAfee a reported eight-figure yearly salary, despite recent layoffs. That move suggests ESPN is prioritizing “content workhorses” like McAfee, media journalist Bryan Curtis wrote.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Marques Brownlee tries out a previously secret Google video project.

• Khaby Lame is set to premiere his first short film.

• TikTok introduces a $6 million fund to pay the creators of its most popular video effects.

• Epic Gardening tours a one-person farm that drives six figures in annual revenue.

• FaZe Rug launches a DTC candy business.

• Pokémon video creator Pat Flynn is hosting a Pokémon card convention.

📚️ Thank You For Pressing Publish

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

• In 2020, several platforms committed to multi-year programs, incubator projects, and payouts that were intended to uplift creators of color. Today, those creators tell Digiday that these initiatives were only the beginning of what can (and should) be done to ensure equity and inclusion on social media.

• Comedy creator Brittany “Broski” Tomlinson mimicked a ‘60s-style news broadcast as she debuted a new weekly video podcast called The Broski Report on Tuesday. “The idea for this set was, ‘What if Walter Cronkite was gay?’” she quipped—just one of the many jokes she made that landed her at No. 4 on Spotify’s U.S. podcast charts, one spot ahead of Call Her Daddy.

• For Cosmopolitan, Duke University student Derek Deng writes about his experience taking a class called “Building Global Audiences,” which, in Deng’s words, is intended to teach students how to “hack the all-knowing algorithm and grow their followings.”

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