In an era of record-breaking sexcapades, Lily Phillips just managed to lower the bar. Phillips has recently garnered a lot of attention for her stunt in which she had sex with 101 men over a 24-hour period. She was seen on camera weeping once it was over, saying it wasn’t for the faint of heart. That alone was plenty shocking, but the OnlyFans star recently revealed that she was unaware HIV can be transmitted through unprotected oral sex.
Phillips’ recent challenge was recorded for her OnlyFans channel and featured in a YouTube documentary. Once the event was over and she was recovering, her emotional exhaustion was visibly apparent. She later expressed an inability to recall most of her participants due to dissociation. She joked that the men probably won’t forget about it and quickly announced plans to go for 1,000 men in a day. Given her shaken state after “only” 101 men, one has to wonder if that’s really such a good idea—and what on earth her motivation is to cause herself further emotional (and possibly physical) distress.
During the process of filming the YouTube documentary about her so-called triumph, Phillips admitted to having unprotected oral sex with participants and learned on camera that HIV can be transmitted that way. She must have been absent that day in health class because, yeah, that’s one of the major ways HIV spreads from person to person. The public reaction to her lack of knowledge has been understandably horrified, ranging from concern to disbelief to outright anger that she would endanger herself—and her participants—in such a way. In the public’s defense, when someone is a sex worker, it’s generally assumed they’re fully informed about the basics of sexual health and the inherent risks of the trade.
Lily Phillips’ lack of knowledge likely isn’t entirely her own fault. Being famous on the internet doesn’t make one immune to basic knowledge gaps, especially when it comes to sexual health. In many areas of the world, comprehensive sexual education is not easily available to young people, leaving them woefully unprepared for a healthy sexual future. Uneducated young people who are sexually active are incredibly vulnerable to misinformation, which can contribute to them engaging in risky behaviors—like having sex with 101 men in a day without using protection during oral sex. To prevent incidents like this, where even a well-known sex worker is unaware they’re placing themselves and others at risk, comprehensive and inclusive sexual education needs to be readily available. As we’ve seen with rising STD and teen pregnancy rates in the United States, scare tactics and abstinence-only sex ed don’t do squat when it comes to preventing damage.
The best way to protect yourself and others from the spread of HIV and other STDs is always going to be using protection—even if you’re trying to break a record for how many people you can doink in a day. Sexual health isn’t something to write off as boring. HIV and other STDs can leave lifelong symptoms that those affected are stuck with for, well, life. Basically, breaking records isn’t worth it if you break yourself in the process. For Lily Phillips, let’s hope she remembers next time to tell her partners they have to wrap it before they tap it.
