Ex-OnlyFans Exec RJ Phillips Taps Controversy With Zoop’s Enhanced Games Deal
RJ Phillips, a founding executive of OnlyFans, is once again leaning into controversy as he refines his latest venture: a “social mega app” called Zoop. The platform is the official social media partner for the inaugural Enhanced Games, a multi-sport competition in Las Vegas on May 24 that openly encourages the use of performance-enhancing drugs to test the limits of human potential.
Roughly 40 athletes are set to compete, including American swimmers and Olympic gold medalists Cody Miller and Hunter Armstrong; Colombian weightlifter and Olympic silver medalist Leidy Solis; and Australian swimmer and former world champion James Magnussen, who is coming out of retirement for the event. Nearly one million users have already signed up for Zoop or joined its waitlist, with athletes sharing training regimens and glimpses of life inside the event’s Abu Dhabi training camp.
The Enhanced Games will feature a $1 million prize pool for world-record-breaking performances, along with additional payouts for individual event winners. There will be no drug testing, and the competition will not adhere to World Anti-Doping Agency rules that govern the Olympics.
Despite the controversy surrounding the Games, Phillips insists it’s not something he actively seeks out. “We acknowledge there’s some controversy around the games. There always is around new things that come out,” he told Observer. He frames Zoop in familiar terms: just as OnlyFans is fundamentally a paid subscription platform rather than a pornography site, Zoop is first and foremost a social hub that returns the bulk of its money to creators. As he put it, “If you don’t want to watch cartoons, you don’t tune into Cartoon Network.”
A platform with creators at heart
Founded in 2020 by Phillips and OnlyFans co-founder Tim Stokely, Zoop initially launched as a platform for fan interaction through digital avatars, with added NFT trading capabilities. That model reflected the moment, but like many metaverse and NFT ventures—including Meta’s own metaverse, which reportedly cost $80 billion before shutting down in March—it ultimately required a pivot.
“We took a step back and said, ‘What are we trying to achieve here?’ We’re trying to achieve better and more equitable payouts and setups for everyone that’s involved in this ecosystem,” said Phillips.
He points to the imbalance in how content platforms distribute revenue. “If someone’s gone and filmed the knockout punch, and that’s gone online, the platforms make more money out of that than Fury, than the event organizers or anyone else,” he said. In his view, “you’re paying the table in the restaurant for holding your food while you eat. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Zoop aims to differentiate itself by sharing upwards of 80 percent of revenue with creators, including Enhanced Games athletes across swimming, weightlifting and track and field. Phillips argues the model is sustainable, even as major platforms like Instagram and TikTok typically offer closer to 50 percent.
The platform also includes what Phillips calls an “A.I. kill switch,” allowing users to opt out of viewing A.I.-generated content and prioritizing human-created posts.
The broader creator economy underscores Zoop’s pitch. Of the more than 200 million content creators worldwide, only about two million earn six figures annually. Most influencers rely heavily on brand partnerships, with companies now dedicating up to a quarter of their digital marketing budgets to influencer campaigns. The real-world impact is visible at events like Coachella, often dubbed the “Influencer Olympics” due to the influx of brand-sponsored creators.
Zoop positions itself as an alternative. With a larger share of revenue from ads and user engagement, creators can enter what Phillips described as a “new world,” where they can earn income “with no product placement for sale of goods that they might not necessarily believe in.”
The Enhanced Games themselves have drawn sharp criticism. Norwegian sports science academics Øyvind Sandbakk and Sigmund Loland describe the event as a “high-risk social experiment [that] abandons the principles that govern current elite sports: respect for athlete autonomy and health, fair competition and the quest for sporting and human excellence.”
Phillips says Zoop is taking a neutral stance on the debate, though he personally “loves what they’re trying to achieve there.”
Beyond the Enhanced Games, Zoop is building partnerships with other global events to expand its reach. These include the first-ever Eurovision Song Contest Asia, set for Bangkok in November. Phillips said the company is also in “advanced talks” to launch in mainland China later this year—an ambitious move given the country’s strict internet controls.
Still, Zoop draws a clear line when it comes to moderating controversial content. The platform, Phillips said, will not act as an editorial authority over every contentious topic.
“Our responsibility is to operate safely, comply with applicable laws and regulations and provide the infrastructure that allows [creators] to reach their audiences responsibly,” he said. “In cases like this, channel owners also have responsibilities around their content environments, while we make sure platform standards and government requirements are met.”