Stan. faces backlash over OnlyFans cathedral shoot

Have you heard the one about the priest, the porn star and a camera crew all walking into the same church?

No?

Let me enlighten you.

This one doesn’t end with a punchline. It ends with the Anglican Church of Brisbane demanding producers of Stan.’s Turned On: Dirty Sexy Money remove footage filmed inside St John’s Cathedral, alleging the production team misled church officials about the nature of the series.

Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves said he was “shocked” by the program, which follows the lives of adult content creators, and apologised for the decision to allow filming inside the city’s second-oldest cathedral.

The eight-part series has been available on Stan. since June, with filming at the cathedral taking place in mid-April.

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Archbishop alleges producers misled cathedral

In a letter dated 20 August, Greaves apologised for the “distress and anger” caused by St John’s Cathedral Dean Dr Peter Catt’s decision to permit filming at the place of worship.

“Like many of you, I am shocked by the content, nature, and intent of the program, which does not align with the faith and values of this Diocese,” Greaves wrote.

“As I have sought to understand how this situation has come about, conversations with multiple Cathedral staff suggest that the program’s producers misled the Dean.”

According to Greaves, the production was pitched as a documentary examining faith and life’s complexities through the experience of someone previously excluded from the church because of “past involvement in sex work”.

“(But) the series is nothing more than clickbait reality TV content that shamelessly attempts to validate the porn industry,” he wrote.

Production company says permission was obtained

In a statement to Mediaweek, Mischief & Wonder, the production company behind the series, said it received permission directly from Catt to film at the cathedral.

The company also confirmed it removed some individuals from scenes at the church at the church's request.

The docudrama follows a group of women described as being among the top one per cent of OnlyFans creators worldwide, documenting their work and earnings through the subscription platform.

One storyline follows British OnlyFans creator Lily Phillips as she reconnects with her Christian faith, culminating in a reaffirmation ceremony conducted by Catt.

During the series, Catt tells Phillips the church community is “really open and accepting”.

“People are people, and people are not really defined by their work,” he said.

A subsequent episode shows Catt leading the reaffirmation ceremony. Phillips later says she's happy to have found a church she considers progressive enough to welcome her.

Questions raised over child’s appearance

The controversy has also prompted questions about the appearance of a young altar server in the series and its promotional material.

In a Facebook post, writer and political activist Melinda Tankard Reist questioned whether the girl’s parents had consented to her being filmed and appearing in a promotional thumbnail for Episode 6.

“Imagine a child going to Church to serve at the altar and being introduced to OnlyFans”, she wrote.

Tankard Reist cited an extract from the Anglican Church of Australia’s safe ministry policies stating: “Leaders must obtain parental consent before filming or photographing children” and “any embarrassing, compromising, or offensive media is strictly prohibited.”

“Is having your face (not blurred in the original) appear in a thumbnail promotion for NINE/Stan's 'Turned On: Dirty Sexy Money' series not 'embarrassing' and 'compromising' for the young altar server?” she wrote.

“Was written permission sought from a parent or guardian of the child for her to be filmed by Nine/Stan as she was serving at the altar?

“Did Church leaders notify the parents in advance that their child (and other young male altar servers who appear in the series) would be filmed for the OF promo show?”

Tankard Reist also asked whether the parents knew their child’s image would appear on the program’s landing page as the episode's main thumbnail.

“Were parents aware that their child's image would appear on the 'Turned On' home page as the main promotional thumbnail for Episode 6? Did they consent to this?” she wrote.

She called on church leaders to seek the image’s removal if they had not previously been aware of its use.

Church orders policy review

Greaves acknowledged there were gaps in the diocese’s policies and procedures governing the use of churches as filming locations.

“This is a situation which should never have happened, and I have asked for an immediate review of policies and procedures to ensure thorough due diligence is carried out before any third-party is granted access to a Church site.”

Catt is currently on leave in Rome and asked to be contacted through the Anglican Church.

Mediaweek has reached out to Stan. for comment