Arizona State University has confirmed that a viral expulsion letter suggesting they dismissed a student for operating an OnlyFans account is fake. The letter, which began circulating on social media this past weekend, appears to be part of an undisclosed marketing campaign.
The document, which used official ASU letterhead, was first posted by @invis4yo, a popular social media user with over 300,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter). Invis condemned the school for “finding a student’s [OnlyFans] and suspending them for it,” racking up thousands of shares and millions of views in just a few days.
The letter shared by Invis claimed that the University’s administration had determined that a student named Bianca, whose last name was redacted, had been expelled for violating the school’s Code of Conduct and ethical standards.
“As a prestigious academic institution, we uphold values that prioritize the well-being and reputation of our student body and the university as a whole,” reads the letter.
“The university code of conduct explicitly prohibits engaging in activities that may bring disrepute to the institution or compromise the ethical standards we expect from our students. Upon thorough investigation, it has been confirmed that your involvement in explicit content creation on OnlyFans falls outside the bounds of acceptable behavior outlined in our policies.”
The letter continues: “In light of this violation, and after exhausting all avenues of discussion and counseling, the university has made the difficult decision to terminate your enrollment effective 12/08/23.” It then concludes by providing final instructions for Bianca, including when she must vacate the campus, and provides a date for when she’ll be cut off from all school resources.
While thousands of X users were quick to condemn ASU for the purported move, with many attributing the expulsion to “stigma” against “sex workers,” some skepticism soon began to swell.
This is discrimination and this is why sex workers need to have rights!
— KP (@AfterhoursKp) December 17, 2023
One X user, Steven Godofsky, said he “bit the bullet” and read the ASU Student Code of Conduct, where he found that no such violation existed.
“This isn’t a real violation. However copying the letterhead is,” he continued. “She definitely wasn’t expelled for OnlyFans but she theoretically could be for forging the expulsion letter.”
Journalist Anna Slatz reached out to ASU today with questions about the authenticity of the document, and sent a copy of the letter to the school’s Media Relations Office for review. Slatz provided the subsequent correspondence to The Publica, showing an ASU spokesperson confirming that the letter was a forgery.
“Thank you for verifying this information,” wrote a University spokesperson. “We have confirmed with the Dean of Students office and have confirmed that this letter is fabricated and this is false.”
The viral post on X has now been slapped with a Community Note debunking the claims the student was expelled for creating content on OnlyFans.
In addition to suggesting that Bianca forged the letter to promote her account, the Community Note pointed out that ASU’s Code of Conduct does not consider it an offense to create sexually explicit content on the porn-based subscription site.
Undisclosed advertisements are a violation of X’s Paid Partnerships policy, which states that non-promoted advertisements must still feature “prominent disclosures indicating the commercial nature of such content.”
It continues that “failure to include an appropriate disclosure in a clear and prominent way could result in enforcement actions.”
