One high-profile sex worker has taken to Twitter to slam Wells Fargo for abruptly closing bank accounts of adult performers.
On Friday, Alana Evans, an adult performer and president of the Adult Performance Artists’ Guild (APAG), said in a tearful video, “I don’t bounce checks, I’ve never done anything bad with my bank account, I don’t have fraud alerts or do chargebacks.”
During the video, Evans read a letter she received from the bank informing her that her account would be discontinued after 30 years of service.
“A bank that I’ve done business with for 30 years decided that I’m not worthy of a relationship with them,” she said, adding: “How am I supposed to pay my bills? How am I supposed to get paid?”
The letter also stated that it “performs ongoing reviews of its account relationships in connection with the Bank’s responsibilities to manage risks in its banking operations.”
According to Wells Fargo, the bank decided to terminate Evans’ account “as a result of this review.”
Spike Irons and Sofie Marie, a couple in Las Vegas, who runs the pornographic production company YummyGirl Studios, also claimed that their Wells Fargo account would be terminated effective October 13.
According to Rolling Stone, Wells Fargo sent Irons and Marie a letter in August after they cashed a check that Marie earned from posing for Hustler magazine. The money in the account was reportedly used to pay the wages of actors, production crew, and independent contractors.
Irons and Marie claimed to have submitted applications to at least two other institutions, both of which turned them down.
The couple is still unsure how they will pay their employees next month when the account closes.
“We’re a tax-paying business that has been operating consistently since 2016,” said Irons. “Tell me how we are high-risk. Wouldn’t they have dumped us years ago?”
One online adult content creator, Leia Way, said she also received a letter claiming that her account would be terminated after banking with Wells Fargo for more than six years.
“In this line of work, the feeling of being discriminated never really goes away,” Way said. “With that feeling, I am always expecting the other shoe to drop.”
She added, “To have a business terminate your relationship when you’ve done nothing wrong or illegal, it sucks.”
