Rachel Dolezal, the White woman infamous for claiming to be Black, fired over OnlyFans account
By AJ Willingham, CNN
(CNN) — Rachel Dolezal, the White woman and former National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter president who courted major controversy nearly 10 years ago for falsely claiming she was Black, has been fired from her position with an Arizona school district over an OnlyFans account.
Dolezal was employed with the Catalina Foothills School District as an after-school instructor, but was let go this week after administrators were made aware of her apparent presence on OnlyFans, a social media subscription platform that caters to adult content.
As of publication, a link to an OnlyFans account is accessible through a bio in Dolezal’s verified Instagram account. The linked OnlyFans account, updated as recently as February 14, blocks images for non-subscribers but contains identifying information and captions alluding to adult and “nude” content.
“Welcome to my OnlyFans page, where I post creative content and give fans a more intimate look into my life,” the page reads.
Julie Farbarik, the district’s director of alumni & community relations, told CNN affiliate KVOA that the posts are “contrary to our district’s ‘Use of Social Media by District Employees’ policy and our staff ethics policy.” Farbarik also confirmed Dolezal’s termination.
CNN has reached out to Dolezal for comment.
Dolezal made headlines in 2015 when it was revealed that, despite leading the Spokane chapter of the NAACP and claiming a detailed heritage as a person of color, Dolezal’s parents were both White with European ancestry. In the ensuing media storm, Dolezal never denied her White heritage, but claimed that she still “identifies as Black.”
Dolezal’s enduring media presence prompted cantankerous conversations about identity and race. In a 2017 CNN interview, she said she believes race is a “social construct.”
Despite widespread derision, Dolezal did not shed her assumed identity after her actual heritage was revealed. In 2016, she legally changed her name to Nkechi Amare Diallo. The name Nkechi is a shortened Igbo name of Nigerian origin, and means “gift of God.”
She said at the time she would continue to use the name Rachel Dolezal as well, and the names appear to alternate on her various social media accounts. Her apparent OnlyFans account bears the name Rachel Dolezal.
OnlyFans is a social media platform where creators post photos and videos and can charge users a fee to access it. It is typically known as a place for explicit content.
Its rising popularity has led to innumerable instances of people being fired from their jobs for being OnlyFans creators, including several teachers. Such incidents have raised questions about employment discrimination, the stigma of sex work and the effects of the gig economy.
A 2017 profile of Dolezal in The Guardian claimed that, at the time, Dolezal was “jobless” and “feeding her family with food stamps” while being offered opportunities only in “reality TV and porn.”
However, Dolezal has continued to crop up in the public eye. In 2017, she published a memoir titled “In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World.” She also promotes her art on social media and produces a podcast called “Peripheries.” The podcast’s description says the show’s logo was created by Dolezal and depicts Josephine Beall Willson Bruce, a Black women’s rights activist from the late 1800s and early 1900s and “a multicultural historical figure who was often perceived as white.”
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