The infamous sex tape that sparked Kim Kardashian’s popularity has had a humongous effect on our culture—and may have paved the way for OnlyFans—according to her ex Ray J.
In a new interview on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Ray J addressed the tape’s impact, suggesting that “everything would be different” if that tape had never come out.
“There might not be any OnlyFans,” he said. “More people would be going to college and getting an education and be successful.”
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Ray J and Kardashian started dating in 2003, when she was 23 years old, and filmed the sex tape together that year. However, the tape didn’t see the light of day until 2007, a year after their breakup, when it was released by a porn company.
The tape, which Ray J has since claimed was leaked on purpose by Kardashian and her mom Kris Jenner, put the then-budding socialite and the rest of her family in the spotlight.
Capitalizing on the moment, the tape’s leak was used as one of the first storylines on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, catapulting the reality show to popularity and cementing the family name in pop culture—though Kardashian would later sue the company that released it, which only brought more attention to the tape. Ultimately, the Kardashians would usher in the beginning of influencer culture, and the start of the new norm where one could be famous for “no reason.”
Ray J suggested to Sharpe that his and Kardashian’s sex tape made it all possible—and also opened up “opportunities” for more people to make money from sexual content.
“How different would the industry be [if the tape hadn’t come out]?” Ray J said in the interview. “Everything would be different, we would all be different.”
Asked if he was ever embarrassed when the tape came out, Ray J paused for a long while before finally answering, “Yeah. I have kids in the household.”
He added, “Are we a part of the cure or are we a part of the disease? I don’t fucking know.”
Cue the slew of Ray J/Oppenheimer memes:
