When WePay, a company that handles payments online flagged a fundraiser for Eden Alexander's medical bills, it never reckoned the porn star's name would become a rallying cry online.
Alexander's woes began when she had a negative allergic reaction to some medication, which then led to a cascade of secondary infections according to The Verge.
Her friends turned to health crowdfunding site GiveForward, with the goal of raising $4,000, enough to fund in-home care and physical therapy until she was strong enough to care for herself.
GiveForward uses the service WePay for payments, and WePay doesn't allow users to use it "in connection with pornographic items."
Citing a tweet that apparently offered porn in exchange for donations, the service froze the account.
The Internet rebelled, a river of flames hit Twitter.
"Oi, WePay, live up to your name and pay EdenAlexanderXX her money, you scumbags. She's gravely ill, your anti-sexwork bigotry is lethal," one Twitter user tweeted.
"billclerico WePay While I want to see any help possible go to Eden, I'd be delighted to see this destroy your platform as a public lesson," another said.
Eventually WePay's CEO issued an apology attempting to reset the campaign.
According to the Daily Mail the fund moved onto Crowdtilt, where it raised almost $9,000 from more than 230 contributors in only one day.
Crowdtilt's CEO even pitched into her campaign.
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