Good point, but tax compliance in the major markets would only run at about 100k initially, and then some 30k annually, maybe 60k if they also sell physical merch. I think this is peanuts for most celebrities.

https://pagesix.com/article/all-the-celebrities-with-an-onlyfans-account/

These people are already famous, they are their own marketing. All they have to do is create the platform and point their fans towards it. Its not like they are creating an entire platform and personal brand from scratch - they already have one and just need a means to distribute and monetize it.

Frankly, I’m not convinced about the cost argument. There are thousands of small porn businesses hosting videos on their own websites and accepting payments via CCbill or alternative payment processors. I doubt they are all running expenses in the millions of dollars, since they wouldn’t be profitable if that were the case.

Thing is, they wouldn’t be trying to be a new OF in this case, they would just be launching their own content through their custom platform, not hosting other people’s content like OF does. There is some intersection between these businesses, but they are not in direct competition, in my view.