NEW YORK TIMES Report | Jacky Dejo: From 13 on Instagram to 18 on OnlyFans

In their third report on self-sexualized teens this year for the New York Times, Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and Michael H. Keller profiled 18-year-old Jacquelina “Jacky Dejo” de Jong in the post “She Was a Child Instagram Influencer. Her Fans Were Grown Men” (Nov. 10, 2024).

Valentino-DeVries and Keller wrote that Jacky Dejo, a Dutch citizen, was 6-years-old when her parents started posting pictures on Facebook “[...] to share her snowboarding prowess.” However, after she turned 13 she “[...] began promoting [Chance Loves] a swimwear brand.” Interestingly, Jacky Dejo initiated the collaboration and “[...] praised its swimsuits.” Valentino-DeVries and Keller:

So it seemed innocuous, she said, when at age 13 a youth swimwear brand, Chance Loves, offered to collaborate with her on social media after she contacted the company and praised its swimsuits. The brand featured her on its website and sent her bikinis, which she sported in photos she posted on Instagram. [Emphasis added]

Jacky Dejo (Instagram)

Only a few months after posing in bikinis on Instagram for Chance Loves: “[...] Jacky was fielding requests from photographers and obscure clothing brands that sent her bathing suits and tight athletic outfits.”

Interestingly, 15-year-old Jacky Dejo reported that her phone was stolen at a skateboarding venue in Barcelona. Subsequently, her nude teen selfies were posted online. “She wasn’t ashamed of the material, she said, but it was meant for private use.” Consequently, she received a “lucrative offer” from SelectSets, an influencer platform, which posted images of “[...] girls, some scantily clad.” (Note: Per Valentino-DeVries and Keller: “Some don’t believe her phone was stolen and say she sold the explicit images herself.”

Initially, Jacky Dejo was reluctant to join SelectSets, but after being guaranteed $10,000 a month and with her parent’s blessing, the 15-year-old joined SelectSets. Her first post was an “[...] Instagram photo of her straddling a motorcycle in a string bikini.” Valentino-DeVries and Keller:

Not long after her phone was stolen, Jacky got a lucrative offer from a man running a new influencer platform, SelectSets, that posted images of young women and girls, some scantily clad.

At first, she and her father thought the man, an American named James Lidestri, was running a scam. But when he guaranteed her $10,000 a month to start, she said, they took notice.

At 15, her parents told her, she was mature enough to make her own decision. She announced her new venture with an Instagram photo of her straddling a motorcycle in a string bikini. Her understated makeup and natural hair styling made her look very much a teenager, and her audience reacted positively.

“Submissive and breedable,” one Instagram commenter posted.

Even one of Jacky Dejo's teacher's subscribed? (Telegram)

After joining SelectSets, Jacky Dejo’s: “[...] earnings had already topped $800,000.” And by the time she turned 16, to make even more money, Jacky Dejo started MyInfluencer.Academy [MIA] and began recruiting other teen models to “sell racy images”. Valentino-DeVries and Keller:

Jacky was game [...] It was also her first taste of true financial independence: Shortly after she finished her schooling, she and her father said, her earnings had already topped $800,000.

After she turned 16, she sought to make more money by recruiting teenagers for her own platform [...] For almost all the girls, the business model is to sell racy images that do not involve outright nudity, though the site has pushed the limits of the law.

Jacky Dejo re-posted her banned TiKToks. (Telegram)

Jacky Dejo recruited teen models from SelectSets, Instagram, and Patreon. And: “[s]he even took suggestions from men in a Telegram channel.” On MIA, which could gross approximately $100,000 a month, Jacky Dejo took “20 percent off the top”.

MyInfluencer.Academy (Instagram)

Unsurprisingly, after she turned 18, Jacky Dejo, like 18-year-old Sami Sheen, joined OnlyFans (“$10 a month on OnlyFans for nude images”) and, like 18-year-old Claudia Conway, she joined Playboy (“$5 a month”). Valentino-DeVries and Keller:

Jacky does not believe she will be in the industry forever [...] But the day after she turned 18, her playbook had not changed. She delighted her online followers by joining the adult site OnlyFans and soon thereafter, Playboy.com.

“I’m happy,” she said, noting that she owns a boat and an apartment and has plenty of money to stay active in the international snowboarding circuit. “Can’t really beat it.”

(Interestingly, initially, Jacky Dejo joined Playboy when she was 16! But that was before the site changed the age minimum to 18.)

Of course, there are other sites like MIA. For example, Valentino-DeVries and Keller referenced SuperFanVerse, Passes and BrandArmy. Valentino-DeVries and Keller:

On one site, SuperFanVerse, an account featuring an 11-year-old girl advertised photos in a bikini and “see thru dress” and sought cash tips so she could “get some Roblox $ $,” referring to an online game platform popular with children.

On another, Passes, a mother created an account using her own identity and charged for bikini photos of her 12-year-old, getting around the site’s age requirement. The same child had previously belonged to yet another platform, BrandArmy, based on a falsified birth certificate.

Lastly, Seara Adair, an anti-exploitation activist, attempted to rescue Jacky Dejo whom Adair, naively, surmised was being “manipulated”. Jacky Dejo, who “believed that she was not a victim”, responded by telling her followers to “spam this bitch”. Valentino-DeVries and Keller:

Jacky wrote: “Don’t forget to spam this bitch who with her friends has been trying to spoil the fun for you! Going to be so much fun to destroy her and her psycho social justice warrior friends.”

Ms. Adair said, “I can’t imagine what level she’s been manipulated to to feel like this is who she has to be.”