The New York Post is facing backlash after publishing a story about a New York City medic who turned to OnlyFans to "make ends meet" amid the pandemic and identifying the woman despite her requests to remain anonymous and now she risks losing her job
On Saturday, The Post ran a story, titled "NYC medic helped 'make ends meet' with racy OnlyFans side gig," about 23-year-old Lauren Caitlyn Kwei, who works for SeniorCareEMS, an ambulance company serving hospitals in the New York City's 911 system.
In the article, The Post wrote about a "cash-strapped" Kwei who sells access to erotic content on OnlyFans for $11.99 a month to stay afloat as her paramedic job, which pays $25 an hour, is not enough to foot her bills.
"The bottom line: I don't get paid a lot. I'm just trying to make ends meet," The New York Post quoted her as saying. ""At the end of the day, it doesn't affect how I treat people. What I do in my free time is my business. It has no effect on how I care for my patients. I know when I'm working, I'm a paramedic. I think I'm pretty good at my job."
Kwei Now Risks Losing Her Job
Shortly after the report went live, a GoFundMe page was set up for Kwei, in which the organizer said funds were being raised for Kwei's legal battle against a "national newspaper" that outed her even after she asked to remain anonymous, which could cost her her job as a paramedic.
Kwei echoed the organizer's sentiments in an update on the page. "Most of the quotes in that article are me defending myself to this reporter. He did not include that I begged him to remain anonymous (which was never agreed to) and that I told him my safety and job were going to be at risk if he posted this article," she said. "He truly did not care. He went on to call my employer and my mother.
Kwei added that she has not been able to speak to her employer since she is currently in West Virginia with her father, who suffered a cardiac arrest last week.
"I still do not know what they are going to do. As of right now, I do still have a job but I will probably find out tomorrow if I don't," she wrote. On SeniorCare's website, the descriptions of all jobs forbid "inappropriate conduct, on and off duty."
NYP Faces Criticism on Twitter
The publication has now drawn criticism on Twitter with users, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling out The Post for shaming the young woman and getting her "fired."
"Leave her alone. The actual scandalous headline here is "Medics in the United States need two jobs to survive," Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
"Headline should be: "New York Post costs paramedic their job, making both her and NYC residents less safe," wrote one user.
"Leave the woman alone, it's not her fault that she has to work two jobs to make ends meet, the New York post is a garbage site," commented another.
"So this is the New York post outing a woman who can't make enough money saving people's LIVES to exist," tweeted yet another. "So she has a second job - and now they're trying to get her fired from her first one, because they are just shitty human beings."
In its defence, The Post noted that Kwei was not secretive about her "online exploits" and had made her last name known on her social media handles with a description that read "NYC Paramedic" along with a solicitation for 'Only Fans.'"
