Performer Sara Jay has alleged that international online lodging app Airbnb has permanently terminated her account without warning and without any policy violations. Jay claims Airbnb’s action was solely because she is an adult actress.
The termination was reported by The Daily Beast here.
Airbnb has a stated policy: “To ensure that hosts and guests can use our platform without encountering prejudice or discrimination. [W]e do believe that the Airbnb community can promote empathy and understanding across all cultures. We are all committed to doing everything we can to help eliminate all forms of unlawful bias, discrimination, and intolerance from our platform.”
Jay explained, ”I went to use the [Airbnb] app one day to book a place to stay, and my account wasn’t working. 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.”
Jay’s business manager followed up by email and certified mail on March 30, 2018, stating that: “Airbnb is violating its supposedly inclusive policies by discriminating against a female solely because of her gender and occupation…. So much for empathy and understanding — an award winning female Hall of Fame actress being blacklisted.”
A month later, Airbnb finally 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, Jay is no longer able to use the Airbnb platform.
In response, Jay’s business manager wrote: “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. It is called clickbaiting. 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.”
To date Airbnb has not responded to the second response or to Jay’s public tweet:
Amazed @AirBNB @AirBnBHelp #discriminating against me – closed my account & preventing me from renting NOT for doing ANYTHING against their terms of service but ONLY because I am a female adult star…so much for your policy of 'empathy & understanding'…
— Sara Jay Official (@SaraJayXXX) April 30, 2018
Performer Karen Fisher tweeted the same type of thing had 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 Ultimate MILF (@SexyKarenFisher) May 2, 2018
“It’s incredibly wrong for such a large company to ban adult actresses who are doing nothing illegal or against their policies,” Jay stated.
“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 next, refuse to rent to women who make a living showing off their bodies on Instagram or [as] Playboy models?” Jay asked, rhetorically of course — because we all know that sexuality expression discrimination does not apply to Insta “models.”
Jay may be reached for comment at Sara@SaraJay.com, and her business manager may be reached at rokkerdave@gmail.com.
