The Anglican Church of Brisbane has declined to provide details of internal booking procedures that allowed the auspicious St John’s Cathedral to be sensationally used for a raunchy reality TV show on sex workers.
The church alleged it was misled by the producers of Stan’s Turned On: Dirty Sexy Money, who used the city’s second-oldest cathedral to film.
Archbishop Jeremy Greaves was asked for specifics on how the series’ producers obtained permission.
The Courier-Mail also requested he substantiate his claim that the producers “misled” church officials – in particular Cathedral Dean Dr Peter Catt – about the content of the show.
A spokesperson on Monday said the church “politely declined” to respond.
Reverend Greaves has demanded producers for the show scrub some footage filmed inside the grand St John’s Cathedral.
The episodes causing offence to the church have been available to watch since June. Filming occurred in mid-April. Reverend Greaves said he wrote the letter after learning of the “shocking content”.
Revd Greaves, in a letter dated August 20, apologised for the “distress and anger” caused by Dr Catt’s decision to allow the place of worship to be used for the show.
His apology to the clergy comes months after the show billed as a peek behind the “opulent and outrageous lives of adult content creators” aired.
“Like many of you, I am shocked by the content, nature, and intent of the program, which does not align with the faith and values of this Diocese,” Revd Greaves wrote.
“As I have sought to understand how this situation has come about, conversations with multiple Cathedral staff suggest that the program’s producers misled the Dean.”
Revd Greaves said the program had been pitched as a documentary exploring faith and life’s complexities through the experience of a person previously excluded from the church because of “past involvement in sex work”.
“(But) the series is nothing more than clickbait reality TV content that shamelessly attempts to validate the porn industry,” he wrote.
Mischief & Wonder, the production company behind the show, said permission was obtained directly from Dr Catt to film at the cathedral.
It also confirmed some individuals had been removed from scenes after receiving the church’s request.
The eight-part docudrama follows a group of women billed as the top 1 per cent of OnlyFans creators worldwide, and how they rake in cash through their sex work.
Part of the show follows British OnlyFans creator Lily Phillips’ reconnection with her Christian faith, concluding with a reaffirmation ceremony by Dr Catt.
Phillips rose to online fame after she claimed to be in training to sleep with 1000 men in a day.
Dr Catt, a prominent progressive Christian voice, assures Phillips in the show the church community was “really open and accepting”.
“People are people and people are not really defined by their work,” he said.
The next episode shows Dr Catt leading the reaffirmation ceremony, with the scantily dressed Phillips later relaying her happiness at finding a church progressive enough to welcome her in.
Revd Greaves, in his letter, acknowledged there were a number of gaps in the diocese’s policies and procedures in approving the use of churches as film sets, despite being “misled” by program’s producers.
“This is a situation which should never have happened, and have asked for an immediate review of policies and procedures to ensure thorough due diligence is carried out before any third-party is granted access to a Church site.”
Dr Catt is on leave in Rome and asked to be contacted via the Anglican Church.