The Melbourne Cup is not quite the same these days as more celebs decline to attend ‘the race that stops the nation’.

The attendance at the Melbourne Cup looks a little different these days. Credit: Supplied/Instagram

The Melbourne Cup Carnival used to be a thing of prestige, with stars like Paris Hilton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lindsay Lohan and even Snoop Dogg flying into Australia to attend and cheer on ‘the race that stops the nation’ from the exclusive Birdcage Enclosure. But it seems as though big names are no longer keen to attend the Melbourne Cup as animal advocates fight to bring attention to the cruelty of horse racing.

These days, influencers and OnlyFans content creators are more likely to be present at the annual (and controversial) event as more and more celebrities opt out of attending the races. Yahoo Lifestyle understands that the change in attendees has been an issue repeatedly discussed among members of the Victoria Racing Club, who all pay thousands of dollars a year for their membership.

For example, in attendance at this year’s Melbourne Cup was Only Fans star Annie Knight, who is known as “Australia’s most sexually active woman” and has recently generated a media storm by promoting her plan to “pleasure” as many “barely legal 18-year-olds” at Schoolies on the Gold Coast later this month.

Victoria Racing Club airs their concerns about attendees

One member of the VRC told Yahoo Lifestyle from the Birdcage Enclosure on Tuesday: “The board and directors are aware of our concerns at how the [Melbourne Cup] Carnival is now being directly linked to pornography and adult work, but they said they have no control over who sponsors invite as their guests or who buys a ticket.”

The VRC website states that part of its vision and values is the “inclusion and freedom from discrimination” of anyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, relationship status, or employment status.

Nicky Hilton attends this year’s Melbourne Cup. Photo: Getty

Elizabeth Hurley and Damian Hurley were also at The Birdcage this year. Photo: Getty
Social media users have taken to X to share their thoughts on the Melbourne Cup, with one saying, “Melbourne Cup is when the celebrities whose careers have faded or the very B-grade ‘celebrities’ and ‘influencers’ come out trying to be noticed.”

“Who still thinks it’s the #racethatstopsthenation apart from rich men, media & a couple of influencers & reality TV contestants? It’s animal cruelty,” another said.

“Looking forward to placing a bet today on which influencers will post a photo from the Melbourne Cup,” a third joked.

Stars slammed for attending Melbourne Cup

While some people wrote that she looked “elegant”, “beautiful”, and “stunning” while attending the event, others told Annie Knight via social media that they wished she hadn’t attended due to the cruelty associated with horse racing, “Say NUP. You bet, they [die] 😢,” one person said.

She is not the only attendee to be criticised for participating in the annual race and its surrounding events.

Annie Knight at the Melbourne Cup this year. Photo: Instagram/anniekknight
Former host of The Project, Carrie Bickmore surprised fans on Sunday by sharing photos of her celebrating Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse, prompting her followers to reprimand her.

“Or we could not support animal abuse just to dress up pretty,” one person wrote on her Instagram post.

“I’m kind of disappointed you would support the races. Love you, but not this decision,” another said.

“You support the death of horses all in name of dressing up and having fun??” a third asked.

“Animal cruelty with a side of fashion!! How vacuous,” someone else added.

Many Aussies do not support horse racing events due to the risks involved for the animals. The RSPCA reports that while the industry doesn’t reveal the exact number of injuries and deaths of racehorses, horses are at risk of suffering from torn ligaments, muscle tears, fractured bones, or internal bleeding in the lungs.

Carrie Bickmore was slammed after attending Derby Day ahead of the Melbourne Cup. Photo: Getty

OnlyFans star defends attendance: ‘We’re still people’

As for Annie, who also had to contend with cruel comments from people asking if she would be making X-rated content at the Melbourne Cup, she told news.com.au, that she received a lot of backlash for attending the races, with some even suggesting she ‘begged’ to get into the Birdcage. She said, “The backlash was pretty grim. Why shouldn’t a sex worker be at the Birdcage? We’re not some crazy monsters, we’re still people.”

She added that while she knows the comments are made to hurt her feelings, she finds them funny, “When I do see comments like that it makes me laugh because it’s like, ‘of course I am in the Birdcage, I’ve worked really really hard, I like to have fun. Where else would I be?”

Annie added that she had spoken to someone about how it “would be really fun” to check out the marquees but “never heard anything back”, so she was shocked to hear reports she’d “begged” to get in.

“I kind of felt betrayed because this contact had been so lovely to me and had offered to help, but I certainly never ‘begged’ to get in. It was so mean.”