A billionaire hedge fund CEO is offering to pay educational expenses for a young Bakersfield woman profiled in a New York Times article Friday alleging underage girls are being exploited on the adult website Pornhub.
Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and columnist Nicholas Kristof described the experience of Serena Fleites, who alleges that videos she shared with a boyfriend when she was 14-years-old ended up on the site. Though her mother succeeded in getting Pornhub to remove the videos, she says they later reappeared.
Living in Her Car with Three Dogs
The ordeal led to a downward spiral for Fleites, who is now 19 and living in her car in Bakersfield with her three dogs.
Kristof’s extensive article, titled “The Children of Pornhub” raised larger questions about the business ethics of the platform, and others like it. Kristof also asked why major credit card companies like Mastercard and Visa “should bolster a company that monetizes sexual assaults on children or unconscious women,” by engaging in business relationships with those sites.
CEO Offers to Pay Education Costs, GoFundMe Account Established
On Saturday, Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman posted a series of comments on his Twitter account saying the credit card companies, “should immediately withhold payments or withdraw until this is fixed. PayPal has already done so.”
He also said he has offered to pay for Fleites’ education and linked to a GoFundMe account that has been set up by others on her behalf. As of Monday, that account had raised over $45,000 from more than 939 donors.
Mastercard to Investigate
On Sunday, Mastercard told CNN it was starting an investigation into the issues raised in Kristof’s article. “If the claims are substantiated, we will take immediate
An American Express (Amex) spokesperson told CNN their cards cannot be used on digital adult content sites, citing longstanding policy. Visa did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
For its part, Pornhub denied the allegations, stating that any assertion it allows child sex abuse material on its platform is “irresponsible and flagrantly untrue.”
