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Posted: 2022-08-16T09:45:05Z | Updated: 2022-08-19T21:46:23Z

I Run This is a weekly interview series that highlights Black women and femmes who do dope shit in entertainment and culture while creating visibility, access and empowerment for those who look like them. Read my interview with Simone Missick here .

WeezyWTF makes talking about the booming business of sex almost as fun as sex itself.

The 31-year-old podcaster, producer and entrepreneur is the host of Fuses Sex Sells, a series that dives into the expansive and lucrative world of sex work and the entrepreneurs behind it. The show, which is in its second season, educates on the legitimacy of sex work while dispelling harmful stereotypes.

I wanted the average person flicking through TV to judge the title. And then watch it and realize, Oh, my God, its not as sexy as I thought. This is people talking about how theyre gaining capital for businesses, said Weezy, who emphasized her show is just as much about business as it is about sex, on how she conceptualized the show. A priority for her was to humanize the people who engage in this work.

People really be trying to get it how they live, and being a receptionist at the same time and doing this other shit. I love highlighting that.

Weezy, whose real name is Gila Shlomi, left her corporate job in 2018 to talk about the ins and outs of sex. Quite literally. Like many in this country, the schools she went to in Orlando, Florida, had a limited scope of sex education lessons about pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and religious beliefs were at the core of the curriculum. Fortunately for Weezy, and her fans, her mom gave her the real talk on sex, pleasure and agency over her body after catching her watching porn when she was younger.

In 2017, she and longtime friend Mandii B started their podcast, Whoreible Decisions , where they engage in conversations around sexual health and exploration often considered taboo. Their show opened up doors for Weezy to do podcast tours, open WTFMedia (her recording studios are in Los Angeles and New York City), run Kenya Barris podcast division at Amazon and, of course, host her own TV show.

When it comes to mainstream conversations around sexual health and liberation, Black womens and queer peoples voices and experiences are often erased or deprioritized. Thats a big reason why Weezy makes it point to talk with mostly Black women and other sex professionals of color on her platform, many of whom shes worked with in the past.

Previous guests on the show include Mandii, Tyla Gomez, Mistress Marley, Tyomi Morgan and even her mom, Jewel. And the show ranges from classes that explore riding techniques, to advice from medical professionals to celebrity interviews.

Weezy said she advocates for Black folks in the sex and media space, especially because Black people have been key to her career advancement.

It does feel like its almost my duty. Even if Im having a conversation with a white business, she said, recalling when she pressed a sex toy company about why they made nude, purple and green dildos, but not black or brown. And I know my privilege and what I got, and I want to do the same, because the way that I got put on was from lit Black people. I just got to make sure Im that same Black person in the white room thats helping everybody else out.

Weezy talks about empowering marginalized people within sex talk, how we all need to reeducate ourselves on what sex work is and isnt, and creating her budding media empire.