Eliza Rose Watson breaks her silence after standards watchdog CLEARED her racy ad
ELIZA Rose Watson has broken her silence after a standards watchdog cleared her racy ad despite dozens of complaints.
The OnlyFans and Instagram model has responded after her controversial billboard campaign was given the thumbs-up.
The former pre-school teacher had outraged locals in north-west London by putting up huge posters of her scantily-clad poses.
They were advertising her social media sites where Eliza cashes in on sharing raunchy selfies with her online admirers.
There have been dozens of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority from people living near the billboards.
Among them was Harrow West’s Labour MP Gareth Thomas, who raised concerns about childrens passing the ads en route to school.
Other protesters daubed on the message “Keep porn off our streets”, while Harrow Council labelled the ads “inappropriate”.
But 34-year-old Eliza – said to be making £200,000 a month selling her raunchy content online – remains defiant.
And she welcomed the ASA’s verdict that they could stay up, speaking tonight to TalkTV‘s Piers Morgan Uncensored show.
The online influencer said: “I am encouraged and pleased that the ASA have ruled what they’ve ruled.”
She also launched a defence of OnlyFans, a London-based subscription service where people charge for pictures and videos.
It’s believed to have more than 1million content creators – many of them amateur models – as well as at least 50million registered users.
Eliza said tonight about the campaigners against her: “I think in general what I make of the argument is, it’s understandable in a sense that it’s someone doing something new.
“There’s a lot of misconception about what OnlyFans is and what OnlyFans isn’t – but OnlyFans is now a household name.
“It’s no good denying it or pushing it under the carpet – that’s what’s going to do damage.
“We need to face it, we need to talk about it, we need to not really focus as much on whether it’s right or wrong, whether people should be doing it or shouldn’t be doing it.
“The fact is, they are doing it – it’s here to stay. We should be focusing on how we approach it.
“Is turning a blind eye to it realistic, let alone helpful?
“Is banning it and shaming it just an old outdated, archaic approach which has never really worked for any societal issue?”
She tweeted after her appearance on the programme: “I hope its helped slightly in removing the shame and stigma that still surrounds my industry.”
The billboards went up in June and July, prompting complaints to the ASA that they were inappropriate for children to see.
Critics also said they objectified women and were overly-sexualised.
Yet the ASA has now decided not to uphold any of the complaints, ruling the ads did “not feature any explicit imagery”.
They said: “Although her clothing was revealing, the image did not feature any nudity, and the pose adopted by Ms Watson was no more than mildly sexual.”
The watchdog acknowledged the image as well as the mention of OnlyFans could be “distasteful” to some, it “was not overtly sexual and did not objectify women”.
Eliza, from Bournemouth in Dorset, told The Sun critics should take her more seriously.
The psychology graduate spent £18,000 for six billboards, including four in Britain and two in New York‘s Times Square.
She insisted: “This is a real business.
“If a gambling or alcohol company can run their ads, which have far more devastating impacts, why not me?
“If people are offended by my ad, I’m assuming they’re also complaining about Ann Summers and Jack Daniels ones.
“You see ads for gambling, alcohol, sex toys, lingerie – there is no difference between that type of adult-oriented ad and my adult-oriented ad.”
She previously described how turning to OnlyFans helped her recovery from drug and alcohol addition.