CYBERSPACE — Adult industry mainstay Sara Jay is reporting that Airbnb has permanently terminated her account without warning and without any policy violations. It is solely, Jay claims, because she is an adult performer.
''I went to use the app one day to book a place to stay and my account wasn't working,” Jay said. “When I contacted Airbnb customer support I got a dismissive response that my account had been closed. They wouldn't give me a reason. I was stunned.''
When Jay’s business manager followed up by email, Airbnb responded: "For the safety and security of our community, we restrict access to the platform when users have advertised sexual services in exchange for compensation. This policy is gender neutral and we have applied it to men, women and non-binary individuals. In this case, advertisements featuring Ms. Jay run afoul of this policy (including here and here). As a result, Ms. Jay is no longer able to use the Airbnb platform.”
Airbnb’s stated policy is, "to ensure that hosts and guests can use our platform without encountering prejudice or discrimination. We are all committed to doing everything we can to help eliminate all forms of unlawful bias, discrimination, and intolerance from our platform."
Jay’s manager responded again, explaining, "the first website is Miss Jay's Official Site which is just an official site. No sexual services are advertised at all. The second website is not owned, controlled or affiliated with Sara Jay. Unfortunately, there are third parties in the world who attempt to profit from Sara Jay's name by setting up sites. A quick name check [shows] it was set up in Panama. Miss Jay has done nothing wrong in the use of any of Airbnb’s facilities. You are discriminating purely because of her gender and profession."
Airbnb has not responded.
Adult performer Karen Fisher tweeted at Jay, saying that the same thing happened to her:
That happened to me too. I was renting a place to go to the beach with family members. Such BS!
— Karen Fisher (@SexyKarenFisher) May 2, 2018
Jay said, "It's incredibly wrong for such a large company to ban adult actresses who are doing nothing illegal or against their policies. Imagine if Delta refused to sell me an airline ticket or Starbucks told me I couldn't buy a cup of coffee because I shoot adult? In this day and age we shouldn't be restricting rights of women who are making a living in this country. Airbnb may not agree with everything women do for a living or what I do with my body but that should not be their call. What's next.... refuing to rent to women who make a living showing off their bodies on Instagram or Playboy models?"
Reach Jay at Sara@SaraJay.com and her business manager at Rokkerdave@gmail.com.
