Director Sean Baker says he is not making an OnlyFans film with Bella Thorne

Days after Bella Thorne said she was collaborating with Sean Baker on a film about OnlyFans, the director is denying he has any involvement in the project.

“I would like to make it clear that the news of me making a film (documentary or fiction narrative) about OnlyFans and using Bella Thorne as research is false. I’m NOT attached to this project,” Baker said in a statement on Friday.

The filmmaker said he had a conversation in early August with Thorne about a far-off collaboration that could “focus on her life and the circumstances leading to her joining OnlyFans.”

“On that call, I advised her team to consult with sex workers and address the way she went about this as to NOT hurt the sex work industry. This has been the extent of my involvement,” Baker said. “I am an ally and have literally devoted my career to tell stories that remove stigma and normalize lifestyles that are under attack. I would never do anything that could possibly hurt the community.”

In his statement, Baker made it clear that he is in development on two different film features that have nothing “to do with Ms. Thorne or OnlyFans.” His previous films have often been filmed with nonprofessional first-time actors, including “Starlet,” “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project.”

Thorne did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Earlier this week, the 23-year-old told The Times that she was planning on starring in a film that Baker would write and direct about OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform home to many sex workers. Part of the reason she started her own OnlyFans page, Thorne said, was to do research for the Baker project. The filmmaker initially declined to comment, but a source close to him told The Times that the project was still “in its infancy.”

“I’m super stoked because we are both really interested in the politics of the movie and making sure there’s a strong voice,” Thorne said of the project. “It’s a feature we are researching as I’m living it currently. What are the ins and outs? What does a platform like this do to its users? What’s the connective material between your life and your life inside the world of OnlyFans? ... How can it change your life for the worse and the better? How far are you willing to go, and how far do you WANT to go? You can be me, or this talented girl from Montana, and OnlyFans could change your life — if you want it to, of course.”

Since joining the site on Aug. 19, the 23-year-old said she has made over $2 million in subscriptions on OnlyFans. The news of her financial windfall caused an uproar among sex workers, who said the actress was taking away work from full-time performers who are dependent on OnlyFans income during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thorne, who rose to fame on the Disney Channel show “Shake It Up,” now has 23.7 million Instagram followers and most recently appeared in the June video-on-demand thriller “Infamous.”