Tana Mongeau says her promise to send free nudes to Biden voters was sarcastic: 'That would be illegal and weird'

Lindsay DodgsonOct 7, 2020, 20:32 IST

Insider

People have been accusing Tana Mongeau of election fraud.TM/Bauer-Griffin / Getty Images

Tana Mongeau offered free nude photos to her fans if they could prove they voted for Joe Biden via a link to her OnlyFans with the hashtag #bootyforbiden.
The 22-year-old YouTuber then posted an update to her Instagram page in which she posed in her underwear and superimposed Biden's face over hers.
Some commentators and news organizations suggested Mongeau's proposal could have broken the law, as vote-buying is a felony under federal law.
Mongeau told Insider she was being sarcastic and hadn't sent any free nudes to Biden voters. "Obviously no one needs an explicit photo of me to go vote and make a change in our country," she said.
"As much as I love Biden, I am not telling anyone who to vote for," she said.

The YouTube star Tana Mongeau says she was only being sarcastic when she offered nude photos in exchange for votes for Joe Biden — an offer that some observers suggested might amount to election fraud.

She had said last week that she would send a free nude photo to fans who could prove they voted for Biden.

"If u send me proof u voted for Biden I'll send you a nude for free," the 22-year-old YouTuber wrote in a now-deleted tweet, adding a link to her OnlyFans account and the hashtag #bootyforbiden.

She followed up her tweet with an update to her Instagram page in which she posed in her underwear and superimposed Biden's face over hers. She said the outpouring had crashed her OnlyFans page, which she calls Tana Uncensored.

"Love to see so many ppl who want change as badly as i do," she wrote. "U don't need my ass to know what's right for America so go VOTE! today was fun, ily."

Some commentators and news outlets, however, suggested that #bootyforbiden might have broken federal law, as it could be considered vote-buying, which is a felony.

Mongeau told Insider she hoped people realized she was being sarcastic.

"Obviously no one needs an explicit photo of me to go vote and make a change in our country," she said. "As much as I love Biden, I am not telling anyone who to vote for."

Mongeau, who has 5.5 million YouTube subscribers, grew her following from her candid, over-the-top storytime videos and controversies such as her turbulent relationship with her fellow YouTuber Jake Paul.

She told Insider she wished the online stars she was watching at 18 years old — around the time Donald Trump was elected president — had told her to vote "so that things could have been better."

"I think it's very obvious in all of the things that Trump is doing, how terrible it is for our country," she said. "And I want to use my voice in every way possible to make that known and to encourage my young followers to vote."

Tana Mongeau is encouraging her fans to go out and vote.Tana Mongeau / YouTube

Mongeau said she'd seen the videos and news articles and thought "people have a lot of really crazy things to say."

"No, I was not campaigning illegally for votes," she said. "It really was just a funny thing to post, and in every form people sent in they were just being silly and sarcastic back. I'm not out here asking for ballots on OnlyFans, because that would be illegal and weird."

TMZ speculated that Mongeau had her YouTube verification removed because of the incident. This was actually an error that occurred because Mongeau uploaded videos to her account incorrectly. Her verification tick has returned.

Mongeau shared a tweet by Paper Magazine on Tuesday night and clarified the situation further.

"U don't need my ass to tell u who to vote for," she said. "I lost youtube verification because i accidentally f---ed up uploading in the backend of my acct. it's back now. f--- the news lol."

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Tana Mongeau says her promise to send free nudes to Biden voters was sarcastic: 'That would be illegal and weird'