Others warned the pattern dangers devaluing conventional inventive achievement.
Protima Daryanani, an immigration lawyer, blasted: “We’ve eventualities the place individuals who ought to by no means have been authorised are getting authorised for O-1s. It has been watered down as a result of persons are simply assembly the classes.”
The controversy intensified after the latest consideration surrounding Piper Rockelle, a former baby influencer who introduced she was launching an OnlyFans account shortly after turning 18.
Rockelle, who’s now 18 and constructed an viewers of greater than 12 million followers on YouTube and TikTok, featured within the 2025 Netflix documentary Unhealthy Affect: The Darkish Facet of Kidfluencing, which examined exploitation within the influencer economic system.
Information from the US State Division reveals O-1 visa approvals surged from 7,294 in 2021 to 19,102 in 2022, remaining excessive by way of 2024.
The rise comes as Trump’s administration has tightened different visa routes, fueling claims cultural worth is being redefined by algorithms fairly than artistry.
A supply stated, “Trump is but once more proving what a joke he’s. He’s clearly mistaking p— stars and influencers for celebrities, in all probability as a result of they’re popping up on his social media. On the one hand, he locks up immigrant households in cages and separates them, and on the opposite, he’s giving out visas like sweet to p— stars on OnlyFans. Ridiculous.”